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Things to remember:- Traditionally the subjunctive is the mood to describe imagined or virtual actions.
- The subjunctive tenses are used to describe feeling, emotions and moods not necessarily linked to facts and reality.
- With the subjunctive, the subject of the main clause views the events taking place in the subordinate clause with a degree of personal interpretation.
- In general the subjunctive is used after some expressions, conjunctions and verbs
The subjunctive
Not all the tenses which exist in this mood are used nowadays.
In modern French the main tenses that you will need to use are the present and the perfect subjunctives. Traditionally the subjunctive is the mood to describe imagined or virtual actions.
This is the general explanation, in reality it is not so straight forward and in some instances some people use the indicative and in others the subjunctive according to the way they perceive the action and the process taking place.
This is particular true with interrogative and negative forms. For
example:
- I don’t think it is feasable
- Je ne pense pas que cela est faisable
Je ne pense que cela soit faisable.
In the first example, it is the fact that something is not feasible which is emphasized when in the second example it is my opinion about something not being feasible. With the opinion, reality is not important but the speaker’s reaction and perception of this reality is
Formation
In this sunsection we're going to look at the following:
- 1. Present Subjunctive
- A. Regular
- B. Irregular
- 2. The perfect subjunctive
- 3. Other past subjunctives
- A. The imperfect
- B. The pluperfect
1.The present Subjunctive
A. Regular
| Chanter | Finir | Rendre |
| Je chant -E | fin – ISS-E | rend -E |
| Tu chant -ES | fin –ISS-ES | rend -ES |
| Il chant -E | fin –ISS-E | rend -E |
| Nous chant -IONS | fin –ISS-IONS | rend -IONS |
| Vous chant -IEZ | fin –ISS-IEZ | rend -IEZ |
| Ils chant -ENT | fin –ISS-ENT | rend -ENT |
Be aware that in the first group of verbs (-ER infinitive) the singular persons and the 3rd person plural are identical to the present indicative. The only changes take place for the 1st and 2nd persons of plural which are similar to the imperfect indicative.
For the verbs of the second group, (-IR infinitive), the 1st and 2nd persons are identical to the imperfect of the indicative. The regular verbs in –IR have the same endings as the regular verbs in –ER. Note that they have the extra –ISS-
In the third group of verbs (-RE infinitive) you have to be careful not to mistake the singular persons for a present of indicative of the first group, “rende” could be easily thought to be like “chante”. Note also that the 1st and 2nd persons of plural are identical to the imperfect indicative.
Remember the verbs that in the indicative had to change their spelling in the present tense? Well the same changes can be found in the subjunctive, look at the conjugations of Appeler, Mener, Nettoyer, Etudier and Continuer below:
Appeler (to call) J’appelle tu appelles il appelle, (identical to present indicative) nous appelions vous appeliez, (identical to imperfect indicative) ils appellent (identical to present indicative)
Mener (to lead) Je mène tu mènes il mène, (identical to the present indicative) nous menions vous meniez, (identical to imperfect indicative) ils mènent (identical to present indicative) Changing the –e- of the infinitive stem into –è- is similar to the present indicative.
Nettoyer (to clean) Je nettoie tu nettoies il nettoie, (identical to present indicative) nous nettoyions vous nettoyiez (identical to imperfect indicative) ils nettoient (identical to present indicative) Note the 1st and the 2nd person plural take an “i” after the “y”.
Etudier (to study) J’étudie tu étudies il étudie nous étudiions vous étudiiez ils étudient Note the double 'i' for the 1st and 2nd person of plural.
Continuer (to carry on) Je continue tu continues il continue nous continuions vous continuiez ils continuent
See what is happening in the 1st and 2nd persons of plural.
Exercise: Fill the gaps with the right form of the present subjunctive
B. Irregular verbs
In this subsection we have the following:
- A. Irregular verbs ending in -RE
- B. Irregular verbs ending in IR
- C. Irregular verbs ending in OIR
- D. A league of their own - Avoir, Etre, Faire and Aller
Examples:
| Partir | Conduire | Rire |
| Je part -E | conduis -E | ri -E |
| Tu part -ES | conduis -ES | ri -ES |
| Il part -E | conduis -E | ri -E |
| Nous part -IONS | conduis -IONS | ri -IONS (double i) |
| Vous part -IEZ | conduis -IEZ | ri -IEZ (double i) |
| Ils part -ENT | conduis -ENT | ri -ENT |
A. Irregular verbs ending in -RE
- The verbs (regular or irregular) ending in –RE use the infinitive stem which in general doesn’t change its form as it get conjugated. The endings are the same than the ones for the regular verbs of the first group Vendre – vend + subjunctive present endings
- The same applies to the verbs whose infinitive ends with
-endre (vendre) –ondre (répondre), -ompre (rompre), -erdre (perdre), -attre (battre), -ettre (mettre), -ivre (vivre)For example:
- Bien qu’elle vende son appartement en France. (Although she sells her flat in France)
- Son oncle doute que son fils vive longtemps. (His/her uncle doubts that the child will live for lo time)
- Il a intérêt à ce qu’il ne perde pas ces clés. (He better not lose his keys.)
- Il faut que nous nous battions pour gagner les élections. (We must fight to win the elections)
- Elle vient pour que je rompe avec mon fiancé. (She came so that I can split with my boyfriend/fiancé).
- Il faut que tu mettes ta chemise bleue. (You must put on your blue shirt)
- Il faut que vous répondiez à sa lettre. (You must answer his/her letter).
Of course we still have a few exceptions!
- Rire (to laugh)
In this case, an extra “-i-“ is require for the 1st and 2nd persons plural.
Je ris, tu ris, il rit, nous riions, vous riiez, ils rient.- Ecrire (to write)
The stem requires a “v”:
J’écrive, tu écrives, il écrive, nous écrivions, vous écriviez, ils écrivent.- Lire, Dire (to read, to say)
These verbs need an extra 's' :
Je lise, tu lises, il lise, nous disions, vous disiez, ils disent.
These types of verbs follow the same process as the verb “conduire” as seen before.- Boire, croire (to drink, to believe)
These types of verbs see a change of their stem twice:
Je boive, tu boives, il boive, nous buvions,vous buviez, ils boivent.- and
Je croie, tu croies, il croie, vous croyions, vous croyiez, ils croientB. The irregular verbs ending in IR
The majority have their infinitive stem with the same endings of the verbs in –ER, such verbs as sentir, sortir, dormer, courir follow the same conjugation as the example above of partir.
However there are some exceptions:
- Venir, Tenir (to come, to hold)
Je vienne, tu viennes, il vienne, nous tenions, teniez, ils tiennent.- Mourir (to die)
Je meure, tu meures, il meure, nous mourions, vous mouriez, ils meurentC. The irregular verbs ending in OIR
They have the same endings of the regular verbs in ER with the exception of 'avoir' (conjugated below) and:
- Pouvoir (can, to be able to)
Je puisse, tu puisses, il puisse, nous puissions, vous puissiez, ils puissant- Savoir (to know)
Je sache, tu saches, il sache, nous sachions,vous sachiez, ils sachent- Vouloir (to have to, must)
Je veuille, tu veuilles, il veuille, nous voulions, vous vouliez, ils veulent- Voir (to see)
Je voie, tu voies, il voie, nous voyons, voyez, ils voient
D. A league of their own - Avoir, Etre, Faire and Aller
Avoir Etre Faire Aller J’aie sois fasse aille Tu aies sois fasses ailles Il aie soit fasse aille Nous ayons soyons fassions allions Vous ayez soyons fassiez alliez Ils aient soient fassent aillent It is important to know these verbs by heart as you often use them and are more likely to come across them.
2. The perfect subjunctive
This is the tense used to signal that the action mentioned has taken place before the present.
For example:
- Je regrette qu’il soit parti. (I regret that he left).
Chanter Finir Rendre Aller J’aie donné aie fini aie rendu sois allé(e) Tu aies donné aies fini aies rendu sois allé(e) Il ait donné ait fini ait rendu soit allé Nous ayons donné ayons fini ayons rendu soyons allé(e)s Vous ayez donné ayez fini ayez rendu soyez allé(e)(s) Ils aient donné aient fini aient rendu soient allés The formation of the perfect subjunctive is similar to the perfect of the indicative with the exception of the conjugation of the auxiliary verbs to be and to have.
As you can see, it is made up of the present subjunctive only of the auxiliary verbs and as in the perfect of the indicative you use the past participle of the verbs you want to conjugate.
3. Other past subjunctives
This subsection covers:
- A. The imperfect
- B. The pluperfect
A. The imperfect
The imperfect comes from the past historic and it is seldom used in modern French.
You will need to be able to recognise it but do not use it when you speak. The only time you will see it used is in literature until the earlier part of last century. Nowadays you will not come across this tense.
Chanter Finir Rendre Aller Je chant -asse fin -isse rend -isse all -asse Tu chant –asse fin -sses rend -isses all -asses Il chant -ât fin -ît ren -ît all -ât Nous chant -assions fin -issions rend -issions all -assions Vous chant -assiez fin -issiez rend -issiez all -assiez Ils chant -assent fin -issent rend -issent all -assent B. The pluperfect
Like the imperfect this tense is not used anymore. It is made up of the imperfect subjunctive of the auxiliary verbs followed by the past participle.
Chanter Finir Rendre Aller J’eusse donné eusse fini eusse rendu fusse allé(e) Tu eusses donné eusses fini eusses rendu fusses allé(e) Il eût donné eût fini eût rendu fût allé Nous eussions donné eussions fini eussions rendu fussions allé(e)s Vous eussiez donné eussiez fini eussiez rendu fussiez allé(e)(s) Ils eussent donné eussent fini eussent rendu fussent allés These last two tenses are here for you to recognise but not to use them. If you did you would sound as if you came from another century.
Now let's go to the next section on: The use of the subjunctive tenses