French 4.5. Present Subjunctive Tense I

All the tenses we have encountered so far were in the indicative mood. The indicative mood is what we use to express facts. This is the mood we encounter often. There are five moods in total in French: infinitive, indicative, subjunctive, imperative, and conditional. The present subjunctive tense is used in French to express opinion, possibility, and feelings, such as fear, doubt, hope, desire, etc. Generally speaking, the indicative describes facts, whereas the subjunctive describes non-facts.

Conjugation

To conjugate verbs in the present subjunctive, we begin from the third-person plural in the present indicative, that is, the “ils/ells” form, e.g., “parlent,” “finissent,” “vendent,” etc.

We extract the stem from these verbs “parl-,” “finiss-,” “vend-,” etc., by dropping the last “-ent.” Then, we add the endings shown in the following table:

It is important that you remember to use the stem from the “ils/elles” form in the present indicative, not the stem from the infinitive. This is especially important with verbs that are irregular in the “ils/elles” form in the present indicative.

Irregular Verbs

There are some irregular verbs that do not follow the aforementioned conjugation patterns. These include the following:

1. The verbs “être” (to be) and “avoir” (to have) are irregular and must be memorized.

2. In some verbs, the “nous” and “vous” forms are conjugated differently. The stem is formed from the first-person plural in the present indicative, that is, the “nous” form, by dropping the suffix “-ons.” Here are some examples:

3. Some verbs have irregular stems but regular endings. The most common ones are:

In addition, the verb “falloir” (to be necessary) is impersonal and has only a third-person singular form, which is irregular in the subjunctive, i.e., “il faille” (it is necessary).

Uses of the Present Subjunctive Tense in French

The subjunctive is usually used in subordinate clauses that use the conjunction “que” (that), where the main clause expresses opinions and feelings such as fear, doubt, hope, desire, etc.

Expressing Opinions

Knowing when to use the indicative mood and when to use the subjunctive mood when expressing an opinion in French can be a little tricky. Nevertheless, these are the main guidelines:

1. Impersonal Opinions

For impersonal opinions, such as “it is important that …,” “it is good that …,” and “it is bad that …,” we generally use the subjunctive mood, for example:

However, if the impersonal opinion expresses some sense of certainty, such as “it is true that …” or “it is clear that …,” the indicative mood is used, for example:

If any of the above expressions are used to express doubt, the subjunctive mood must be used, for example:

2. Personal Opinions

If the main clause expresses an opinion in the negative, the subordinate clause is in the subjunctive mood, for example:

If the main clause is in the affirmative, the subordinate clause must be in the indicative, not in the subjunctive mood, for example:

Note also that it is the main clause that determines the use of the indicative or the subjunctive. For instance, in the sentence “Je pense que cette maison n’est pas grande” (I believe that the house is not big), we use the indicative because the main clause “Je pense que” is in the affirmative.

Expressing Possibilities

Most expressions that express the possibility or probability of something being one way or the other use the subjunctive mood. For example:

A notable exception that uses the indicative is “peut-être,” meaning “perhaps” or “maybe,” for example:

Expressing Desires, Wishes, Feelings, and Requests

In general, desires, wishes, feelings, and requests are expressed in the subjunctive mood. The main clause can be in the present or the past, for example:

When the verb in the main clause is used to express desire, the subjunctive mood is only used if the subject and the performer of the action are not the same. For example:

If the subject and the performer of the action are the same, we use the infinitive following the verb. For example:

Next: Impersonal Verbs & Expressions

See also: Present Subjunctive Tenses II

Back to: French Lessons

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