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:

	parler (to speak) ils parlent	finir (to finish) ils finissent	vendre (to sell) ils vendent
je	parle	finisse	vende
tu	parles	finisses	vendes
il/elle/on	parle	finisse	vende
nous	parlions	finissions	vendions
vous	parliez	finissiez	vendiez
ils/elles	parlent	finissent	vendent

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.

	être	avoir
je/j’	sois	aie
tu	sois	aies
il/elle/on	soit	ait
nous	soyons	ayons
vous	soyez	ayez
ils/elles	soient	aient

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:

	je/j’	tu	il/elle	nous	vous	ils/elles
appeler to call	appelle	appelles	appelle	appelions	appeliez	appellent
acheter to buy	achète	achètes	achète	achetions	achetiez	achètent
boir to drink	boive	boives	boive	buvions	buviez	boivent
croire to believe	croie	croies	croie	croyions	croyiez	croient
jeter to throw	jette	jettes	jette	jetions	jetiez	jettent
mourir to die	meure	meures	meure	mourions	mouriez	meurent
préférer to prefer	préfère	préfères	préfère	préférions	préfériez	préfèrent
prendre to take	prenne	prennes	prenne	prenions	preniez	prennent
recevoir to receive	reçoive	reçoives	reçoive	recevions	receviez	reçoivent
tenir to hold	tienne	tiennes	tienne	tenions	teniez	tiennent
venir to come	vienne	viennes	vienne	venions	veniez	viennent
voir to see	voie	voies	voie	voyions	voyiez	voient

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

	je/j’	tu	il/elle	nous	vous	ils/elles
aller to go	aille	ailles	aille	allions	alliez	aillent
faire to do	fasse	fasses	fasse	fassions	fassiez	fassent
pouvoir to rain	puisse	puisses	puisse	puissions	puissiez	puissent
savoir to know	sache	saches	sache	sachions	sachiez	sachent
valoir to be worth	vaille	vailles	vaille	valions	valiez	vaillent
vouloir to want	veuille	veuilles	veuille	voulions	vouliez	veuillent

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.

	Examples
Impersonal opinion	Il est important que vous mangiez bien. It is important that you eat well.
Emotion	Je suis content qu’ils aillent bien. I’m glad they are well.
Doubt	Je doute qu’il y ait du soleil aujourd’hui. I doubt that it is sunny today.
Desire	Je veux qu’il étudie bien. I want him to study well.

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:

Il est important que vous rendiez visite à votre famille.	It is important that you visit your family.
C’est bien que vous soyez ici aujourd’hui.	It is good that you are here today.
Il faut que vous suiviez les règles.	It is necessary that you follow the rules.

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:

C’est vrai que je veux sortir aujourd’hui.	It is true that I want to go out today.
Il est clair qu’ils peuvent gagner ce match.	It is clear that they can win this match.

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

Il n’est pas certain qu’ils puissent gagner ce match.

It is not certain that they can win this match.

2. Personal Opinions

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

Je ne pense pas que cette maison soit trop grande.	I don’t think that this house is too big.
Je ne crois pas qu’il y ait des gens qui vivent là-bas.	I don’t believe that there are people living there.

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

Je pense que cette maison est trop grande.	I think that this house is too big.
Je crois qu’il y a des gens qui vivent là-bas.	I believe that there are people living there.

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:

Il est possible que ce soit nuageux à l’extérieur.	It is possible that it is cloudy outside.
Il se pourrait que Mark soit coincé dans les embouteillages.	It could be that Mark is stuck in traffic.

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

Peut-être que c’est nuageux dehors.

Maybe it is cloudy outside.

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:

Je veux que tu sois poli.	I want you to be polite.
Je demande que nous ayons plus de temps.	I request that we have more time.
Je suis content que tu fasses ton travail à temps.	I’m glad you do your job on time.
Je voulais que tu viennes chez moi.	I wanted you to come to my house.

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:

Je veux que tu fasses cette tâche.

I want you to do this task.

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

Je veux faire cette tâche.

I want to do this task.

Next: Impersonal Verbs & Expressions

See also: Present Subjunctive Tenses II

Back to: French Lessons

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