French Subjunctive Starts With the Phrases That Call for It

What does the pattern look like?

A first verb or phrase sets off the subjunctive. Then que links the two parts of the sentence. A new subject follows, and that subject's verb is in the subjunctive.

Say Je veux que tu viennes. (I want you to come.) Now say Je veux partir. (I want to go.) In the second sentence, the one who wants and the one who goes are the same person. For wanting and feeling, Tex says that with only one subject, the verb is followed by an infinitive, the "to" form of the verb, and no subjunctive. Verbs like vouloir take it straight. Feelings such as être content and phrases like il est important put de first. Four connectors are the exception: bien que, quoique, pourvu que and jusqu'à ce que keep the subjunctive even with one subject. Tex gives doubt only with two different subjects, so this page doesn't cover doubt with one.

Starting with the phrases and not with tables is this site's choice, not a rule from Tex.

Which "it is" phrases call for it?

Il faut que (it is necessary that) is one of the most frequent of these, and Tex says it is always followed by the subjunctive. Tex lists more phrases of necessity, and the Français interactif textbook gives the same list: il est important que, il est nécessaire que, il est essentiel que, il est inévitable que, il vaut mieux que, il est préférable que, il est indispensable que.

The last row is an opinion phrase. Tex lists il est bon que, il est utile que, il est juste que, il est urgent que, il est dommage que and il est logique que, and says there are many more.

If no person is named, drop que and use the infinitive. The Français interactif textbook shows il faut and il vaut mieux going straight to it, as in Il faut étudier pour l'examen. (You have to study for the exam.) The il est phrases add de first: Il est important de lire des livres. (It's important to read books.)

Which verbs of wanting and feeling call for it?

Tex gives two lists. Wanting: vouloir que, aimer que, préférer que, souhaiter que, exiger que and others. Feeling: être content que, être heureux que, être désolé que, regretter que, avoir peur que, craindre que and others. Tex marks the adjectives as matching the person who has the feeling, so a woman says contente and heureuse, not content and heureux.

The third row says "you'll" in English. Tex points out that the subjunctive sometimes has a future meaning, and only context tells you which. The last row has one subject, so Tex uses de plus the infinitive.

One verb breaks the pattern. Tex says espérer (to hope) takes the indicative: J'espère que tu vas bien. (I hope you're OK.) and J'espère que tout se passera bien. (I hope everything goes well.)

When does doubt call for it?

Doubt calls for the subjunctive. Certainty calls for the indicative. Tex and the Français interactif textbook list these doubt phrases: il est possible que, il est impossible que, il est incroyable que, il est douteux que (only Tex lists this one) and douter que.

Phrases of certainty like croire que (to believe), penser que (to think) and être sûr que (to be sure) take the indicative. Add ne… pas and they express doubt, so the subjunctive follows. Negate douter que and you express certainty, so the indicative comes back: je ne doute pas que.

Say each pair and listen for the verb that changes: est to soit, comprends to comprennes twice, and viendra to vienne. In the last row the indicative is the future, and the ne … pas sits on the indicative side, because negating douter brings the indicative back.

Two "it is" phrases sit on opposite sides. Il est clair que is on Tex's certainty list, so it takes the indicative: Il est clair que tu as tort. (It's clear that you're wrong.) Il est possible que is on its doubt list, so it takes the subjunctive: Il est possible que Tom soit un génie. (It's possible that Tom is a genius.)

Sûr matches the speaker, like content: a woman says sûre.

When croire, penser or être sûr becomes a question, Tex treats it as doubt too, as in Crois-tu que Tom soit innocent ? (Do you believe Tom is innocent?) Tex puts il est probable que (it is probable that) with the certainty phrases, so it takes the indicative.

Which connectors always call for it?

Tex says the subjunctive always follows these connectors when one of them brings in a new subject. For a purpose: pour que, afin que (so that). For fear: de crainte que, de peur que (for fear that). For time: avant que (before), en attendant que (while waiting for), jusqu'à ce que (until). For an obstacle: bien que, quoique (although), à moins que (unless). For a condition: à condition que, pourvu que (provided that), sans que (without).

The last row has a ne that doesn't make the verb negative. Tex marks this ne as optional, added for style, in its examples with de crainte que and avant que. This page's line has it after à moins que. Tex's de peur que example has none. Don't add it after other connectors. It's the one in ce ne soit, not the Ne of Ne dis rien, which you keep. Without it, the line is Ne dis rien, à moins que ce soit important.

Four connectors keep the subjunctive even when the subject stays the same: bien que, quoique, pourvu que and jusqu'à ce que. Say Bien qu'il soit pauvre, il est heureux. (Even though he's poor, he's happy.)

Not every connector is on the list. Tex puts quand (when), pendant que (while) and parce que (because) with the ordinary connectors.

What do you say when there's only one subject?

For many of the other connectors, Tex shows a way around the subjunctive when both parts have the same subject: you can often switch to a preposition plus the infinitive. Avant que becomes avant de, pour que becomes pour, and sans que becomes sans. In à moins que, afin que, à condition que, de peur que, de crainte que and en attendant que, que becomes de.

Which endings do you need?

Tex gives the same endings for all verbs except avoir and être, which come further down: -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent. For most verbs, take the ils form of the present, drop -ent, and add them.

Before a vowel, que je becomes que j', as in que j'attende.

Tex notes that for regular -er verbs, the je, tu, il and ils forms look and sound like the present. Many verbs that are irregular in the present still follow this recipe, such as dormir (dorme) and dire (dise).

Some verbs have two stems. Tex says the nous and vous forms take their stem from the nous form of the present.

Two of these don't follow the ils-form recipe for their first stem. Wiktionary gives the present ils vont and ils veulent, but the subjunctive is aille and veuille, so learn those two as they are. Tex adds that -er verbs whose stem changes in the present, such as appeler and acheter, keep both stems: que j'appelle but que nous appelions. Don't build their nous and vous forms from the ils form. Check the conjugation lookup.

Five verbs you just learn whole. A few forms of each: être (que je sois, que nous soyons), avoir (que j'aie, que tu aies, qu'il ait, que nous ayons), faire (que je fasse), savoir (que je sache) and pouvoir (que je puisse).

There's also a past subjunctive for an action that came before the main verb: Je suis content que tu aies appelé. (I'm glad you called.) Tex builds it from the subjunctive of avoir or être plus the past participle. The participle is the one from the passé composé, but the helper is subjunctive: tu aies, not tu as. Leave it for later.

How do you practice it today?

Pick 3 phrases that take the subjunctive, such as il faut que, je veux que and je doute que. Leave out espérer, il est probable que and je ne doute pas que: those take the indicative. Croire, penser and être sûr take the indicative only when they're positive. Save their negative forms for the doubt pairs on 20-minute days. Leave the connectors out of this drill too.

Keep the phrase the same and change the person after que. After je veux que or je doute que, use tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils or elles, never je. To talk about yourself with vouloir, say Je veux partir. With douter, just skip je in this drill. The il of il faut que isn't a person, so any person can follow it, as in Il faut que je parte. The ending follows the new person, and some verbs change stem, so check the tables above as you go.

The vous row with venir uses the second stem, ven-. Go through your list of people with the first phrase, then the second and third. When you reach the end, change the verb, say from venir to partir, and go round again. Partir keeps one stem for every person: que je parte, que nous partions. Before il, elle, on, ils and elles, que becomes qu'.

Count it in Spoken Minutes. On a 5-minute day, spend 1 minute on yesterday's Cold Say-Back and 4 on the phrases. On a 10-minute day, it's 2 and 8. On a 20-minute day, it's 3, then 10 on the phrases and 7 on the doubt pairs. On the first day of the whole 90-day plan there's nothing to say back, so give those minutes to the phrases. After that, the Cold Say-Back stays first. This split is this site's House routine, untested with learners. Log the minutes in your Mile Log.

If parle and parlent sound alike to you, that's right: French pronunciation covers the endings you don't say. French articles is a good next grammar stop, and the French starting plan holds advanced grammar like this for later.

Tomorrow, with nothing in front of you, run a Cold Say-Back: say "I want you to come" and "I don't believe that's true" in French, then check them here.