En bonne forme, 8th Edition

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Selected Grammar Explanations in English

Chapter 16

The Present Subjunctive Form

The indicative and the subject are mood constructions. The indicative is the real-action mood;
it describes facts. The subjunctive is the mood of wishes, possibilities, and doubts. In French,
you use the subjunctive quite often, especially in dependent clauses. The principal verb or the
conjuction determines if the subjunctive is used in the dependent clause.

Il faut qu'il vienne. Je me prépare avant qu'il vienne.

In English, use of the subjunctive is rare.

I wish I were in France.

The students ask that the teacher speak slowly.

There are four subjunctive tenses. In popular language, you use the present and the past
subjunctive. In literary language, you also use the imperfect and past perfect subjunctive
tenses. There is no future subjunctive tense. The present subjunctive indicates the future.

Je doute qu'ils reviennent à l'Expo.

I doubt that they will come back to the Fair.

Forms

Regular Subjunctive

The majority of verbs have a regular subjunctive conjugation. You form the subjunctive with
the third person plural of the present tense. Drop the -ent to obtain the root and then add one
of the following endings: -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent.

1. Regular Verbs

a. 1st group verbs

regarder ils regardent regard-

b. 2nd group verbs

finir ils finissent finiss-

c. 3rd group verbs

entendre ils entendent entend-

2. Irregular Verbs

a. The majority of irregular verb have an irregular subjunctive conjugation.

b. Irregular verbs ending in -ir, -oir, and -re in the present indicative form have two
roots in the present subjunctive: the root of the third person plural of the present tense
for je, tu, il , ils and the third person of the imperfect for nous and vous.

c. The verbs croire, rire and voir use -yi- or two -i- for nous and vous.

Usage

You will encounter four popular uses of the subjunctive form.

 The subjunctive form after certain verbs of will, necessity, feeling or doubt
 The subjunctive after certain conjunctions
 The subjunctive alone
 The subjunctive after a relative pronoun

General Rules

1. Verbs expressing will, preference, necessity, emotion, feeling, doubt, or possibility are
always followed by que and the subjunctive when the principal verb and the subordinate
verb have different subjects.

Odette est triste que son frère ne soit pas près d'elle.

2. If the subject of the principal verb is the same as the subject of the subordinate verb, use
the infinitive construction.

Odette est triste d'être loin de son frère.

3. If the principal verb is impersonal, the subject of the subordinate verb must represent a
noun or a precise pronoun. If not, use the infinitive construction.

Il faut qu'Odette écrive à son frère.

Il faut visiter tous les pavillons.

Subjunctive or Infinitive?

Verbs that express an opinion, a declaration, a certainty, and the verb espérer (to hope) are
followed by the indicative when they are in the affirmative form.

Je pense qu'il va pleuvoir.

If these verbs are in the negative or interrogative forms, however, they express doubt and
therefore can be used with the subjunctive. The indicative is also an option in these cases, it is
merely a difference in the quality of the language. Careful, elegant, or written language calls
for the subjunctive; the indicative is more appropriate for simple, spoken language.
 Je ne pense pas qu'il pleuve. (ou qu'il va pleuvoir)

The Subjunctive Form after Conjunctions

1. Here are the main conjunctions used before the subjunctive form:

à condition que provided

à moins que unless
avant que before
bien que although
de peur que for fear that
jusqu'à ce que until
pour que in order that
pourvu que provided
sans que without

2. For certain conjunctions, the subjunctive is the logical form to use becauce the action that
follows has not yet happened (jusqu'à ce que, avant que, pourvu que, pour que, sans
que) or contains an emotion (de peur que).

Nous allons vous expliquer cette règle jusqu'à ce que vous la compreniez.

3. Use the subjunctive form with the conjunctions avant que, pour que, de peur que, sans
que when you have two different subjects in the main and subordinate clauses. If the
subjects of the two clauses represent the same person, use a preposition and an infinitive.

Je me prépare avant que nous sortions.

I get ready before we go out.

Je me prépare avant de sortir.

I get ready before going out.

The Past Subjunctive Form

Forms

The past subjunctive form is regular for all verbs. Take the past tense of the indicative and
add the auxiliary avoir or être.
Usage

The past subjunctive form indicates that an action happened before the action of the principal
verb even if the principal verb is in the past tense.

Tu es content: je t'ai montré le temple Tu es content que je t'aie montré le

d'Angkor. temple d'Angkor.

The Sequence of Tenses

1. In spoken language and in simple written language, you use both the present and past
subjunctive forms.

a. The present subjunctive is used to indicate that the action of the subordinate verb
happened at the same time or after the action of the principal verb, even if the
principal verb is in the past tense.

Je suis content: tu prends des vacances.

tu vas prendre des vacances. Je suis content que tu prennes
tu prendras des vacances. des vacances.

b. The past subjunctive form is used to indicate that the action happened before the
action of the principal verb.

2. In written literary language, there are two other tenses: the imperfect subjunctive and the
past-perfect subjunctive (See “Temps et constructions rares” on your Online Study
Center).