Le subjonctif: the subjunctive in French

What is le subjonctif?

Le subjonctif (the subjunctive) is one of the French grammatical moods along with the indicative, the passive, the conditional and the imperative.

The subjunctive emphasises the subjectivity of a sentence, and it is mostly used in dependent clauses that start with que. The subjunctive expresses possibilities, hypotheses, feelings, thoughts, wishes, doubts, uncertainty, or advice.

Master the use of the subjunctive mood in French grammar with Lingolia’s quick and easy examples, then put your knowledge to the test in the free exercises.

Contents

Example

Zeichnung

Juliette est présentatrice à la télévision. Elle fait en sorte que chaque émission soit un succès, bien qu’elle sache que des imprévus peuvent survenir à tout moment.

Il est important qu'elle reste concentrée et professionnelle, même si elle a parfois très envie de rire. Elle craint que l'audience ne soit déçue si tout ne se passe pas comme prévu.

When to use the subjunctive in French

The French subjunctive always appears after the word que, and there are many conjunctions, verbs and phrases that trigger its use.

Use the French subjunctive in the following cases:

  • after il faut que must/have to (this is one of the most common subjunctive triggers)
Example:
Il faut qu’elle reste concentrée et professionnelle. She must remain focused and professional.
  • after the following conjunctions with que: avant que before, jusqu’à ce que until, pour que in order to, afin que in order to, bien que although, quoique although, à condition que on the condition that, pourvu que let’s hope that, sans que without
Example:
Elle fait en sorte que chaque émission soit un succès, bien qu’elle sache que des imprévus peuvent survenir à tout moment. She makes sure that every show is a success, although she knows that the unexpected can occur at any moment.

Watch out!

The conjunction après que (= after) is followed by the indicative, not the subjunctive.

Example:
Les journalistes sont partis après que la manifestation s’est terminée. The journalists left after the demonstration ended.
  • after verbs that express a doubt, fear, wish, permission, request, order etc.: souhaiterto wish, désirerto wish, aimerto like, avoir peurto fear, avoir honteto be ashamed, craindreto fear, redouterto dread, regretterto regret, être désoléto be sorry, vouloirto want, ordonnerto order, exigerto demand, supplierto beg, demanderto ask, interdireto forbid, permettreto allow, déplorerto regret, se plaindreto complain
Example:
Elle craint que l’audience ne soit déçue si tout ne se passe comme prévu. She fears that the audience will be disappointed if everything does not go according to plan.
craindre que + subjunctive

Watch out!

Although they express a wish and a feeling, espérer (= to hope) and décider (= to decide) are followed by the indicative, not the subjunctive.

Example:
Juliette espère que des gens accepteront d’être interviewés. Juliette hopes that people will agree to be interviewed.
  • after negated verbs of opinion (affirmerto confirm, croireto believe, direto say, être d’avis deto be of the opinion that, penserto think, etc.)
Example:
Tu penses que Juliette est une bonne présentatrice. You think that Juliette is a good presenter.
affirmative verb of opinion + indicative
Tu ne penses pas que Juliette soit une bonne présentatrice. You don’t think that Juliette is a good presenter.
negated verb of opinion + subjunctive
Example:
Il est important qu’elle reste concentrée et professionnelle, même si elle a parfois très envie de rire. It’s important that she remains focused and professional, even when she really wants to laugh sometimes.
il est important que + subjunctive

Note

Some verbs can be used with both the indicative and the subjunctive depending on the meaning we wish to convey: the subjunctive adds a sense of uncertainty, whereas the indicative presents information as factual.

Examples:
Il semble que Juliette a envie de rire. It seems like Juliette wants to laugh.
indicative = presents the information as a fact
Il semble que Juliette ait envie de rire. It seems like Juliette wants to laugh.
subjunctive = presents the information with uncertainty

Still not sure? Take a look at our complete list of French verbs and phrases that take the subjunctive.

Subjonctif présent or subjonctif passé?

There are two possible forms of the subjunctive: the subjonctif présent and the subjonctif passé. We use the subjonctif présent when we want to talk about events that take place simultaneously.

Example:
Il est important pour lui qu'il puisse jouer dans des films.It’s important to him that he can still act in films.

We use the subjonctif passé when:

  • the verb in the main clause is in the past.
    Example:
    Il était important pour lui qu’il ait pu jouer dans des films.It was important to him that he could act in films.
  • the action in the subjunctive clause happened before the action in the main clause. The verb in the first clause can be conjugated in either the past or the present.
    Example:
    Il est important pour lui qu’il ait pu jouer dans des films.It’s important to him that he was able to act in films.
    Il était important pour lui qu’il ait pu jouer dans les films.It was important to him that he was able to act in films.

How to conjugate the subjunctive in French

Subjonctif présent

We form the subjonctif présent using the present-tense verb stem of the 3rd person plural and the endings -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent. These endings are the same for all three verb groups.

Person aimer – ils aiment finir – ils finissent* dormir – ils dorment** vendre – ils vendent
1st person singular (I) que j’aime que je finisse que je dorme que je vende
2nd person singular (you) que tu aimes que tu finisses que tu dormes que tu vendes
3rd person singular (he/she/it) qu’il aime qu’il finisse qu’il dorme qu’il vende
1st person plural (we) que nous aimions que nous finissions que nous dormions que nous vendions
2nd person plural (you) que vous aimiez que vous finissiez que vous dormiez que vous vendiez
3rd person plural (they) qu’ils aiment qu’ils finissent qu’ils dorment qu’ils vendent

* Most -ir verbs are conjugated like finir. Choisir, réagir, réfléchir and réussir belong to this group. Here we add an -iss- to the word stem in the plural forms.

** Most -ir verbs that are not conjugated like finir, are conjugated like dormir. Mentir, partir and sentir are part of this group. We don't add -iss- to form the plural.

The verbs avoir and être are irregular.

Person avoir être
1st person singular (I) que j’aie que je sois
2nd person singular (you) que tu aies que tu sois
3rd person singular (he/she/it) qu’il ait qu’il soit
1st person plural (we) que nous ayons que nous soyons
2nd person plural (you) que vous ayez que vous soyez
3rd person plural (they) qu’ils aient qu’ils soient

Exceptions

  • Many -oir verbs are conjugated in the subjonctif présent using two different verb stems. To conjugate the 1st and 2nd person plural forms, we use the verb stem of the present tense 1st person plural instead of the 3rd person.
    Examples:
    Il arrive souvent qu’il reçoive un prix.It often happens that he receives a prize.
    Il arrive souvent que vous receviez un prix.It often happens that you receive a prize.
  • The following verbs change their stem in the subjonctif présent: allerto go, croireto believe, croîtreto grow, faireto do, falloirto need, naîtreto be born, pleuvoirto rain, pouvoirto be able to, savoirto know, valoirto be worth, voirto see, vouloirto want. To see their complete conjugation go to the list of irregular verbs:
    Example:
    Il faut qu’il fasse un discours.He has to give a speech.

Subjonctif Passé

The subjonctif passé is constructed with the present subjunctive form of avoir or être and the participe passé of the verb. Most verbs take avoir as their auxiliary in the subjonctif passé.

Examples:
que j’aie aimé
que j’aie fini
que j’aie vendu

The verb être is only used in the following cases:

  • with 14 verbs of motion and of staying still: naître/mourirto be born/to die, aller/venirto go/to come, monter/descendreto go up/to go down, arriver/partirto arrive/to leave, entrer/sortirto enter/to go out, apparaîtreto appear, resterto stay, retournerto return, tomberto fall and their related forms such as: revenirto come back, rentrerto go back in, remonterto go back up, redescendreto go back down, repartirto leave again.
Example:
que je sois allé

Info

We use avoir when descendre, (r)entrer, (re)monter, retourner and sortir are followed by a direct object. In this case, the meaning of the verb often changes.

Example:
Il faut que vous soyez sortis avant 12 heures.You must have left before 12 o’clock.
but: Il faut que vous ayez sorti les carottes du frigo avant le dîner.You must have taken the carrots out of the fridge before diner.

Participe Passé

For the regular -er/-ir/-re verbs, the past participle is easy to construct:

  • If the infinitive ends in -er, the participle ends in é
    Example:
    aimer – aimé
  • If the infinitive ends in -ir, the participle ends in i
    Example:
    finir – fini
  • If the infinitive ends in -re, the participle ends in u
    Example:
    vendre - vendu

For the irregular verbs, we need to look up the participle form in the list of irregular verbs or check their conjugation in the verb conjugator — or simply learn the forms by heart.

Agreement of the Participe Passé

For some verbs, the participe passé needs to agree in gender and number with the subject of the sentence.

  • For verbs that take être as their auxiliary in the past subjunctive, the participle agrees in gender and number with the subject.
    Examples:
    Je ne crois pas qu’il soit allé au studio de télévision.I don’t think he went to the television studio.
    Je ne crois pas qu’elle soit allée au studio de télévision.I don’t think she went to the television studio.
    Je ne crois pas qu’ils soient allés au studio de télévision.I don’t think they went to the television studio.
    Je ne crois pas qu’elles soient allées au studio de télévision.I don’t think they (only women) went to the television studio.
  • For verbs that are constructed using avoir, the participle agrees in gender and number with a direct object that comes before the verb. This direct object can take three possible forms: a personal pronoun (me, te, le, la, nous, vous, les), the relative pronoun que, or a noun (in questions and exclamations).
    Examples:
    Pourvu que sa famille lui ait souhaité son anniversaire. → Pourvu que sa famille le lui ait souhaité.Hopefully his family wished him a happy birthday.
    Pourvu que sa famille lui ait souhaité sa fête. → Pourvu que sa famille la lui ait souhaitée.Hopefully his family wished him a happy birthday.
  • The participe passé of reflexive verbs generally agrees with the subject.
    Example:
    Il est possible que nous nous soyons levés trop tard.It’s possible that we got up too late.

    The exception to this rule concerns direct objects: if the reflexive verb is followed by a direct object the past participle does not agree with the subject.

    Example:
    Il vaudrait mieux qu’elle se soit lavé les mains.It would be better if she had washed her hands.
    → but: Il vaudrait mieux qu’elle se soit lavée.It would be better if she had washed herself.
    Remember: the past participle never agrees with an indirect object.
    Example:
    Je ne crois pas que Marie et Laurent se soient téléphoné.I don’t believe that Marie and Laurent called each other on the phone.
    → se = indirect object

  • The participe passé does not agree with the subject of the following verbs: se téléphonerto phone each other, se parlerto talk to each other, se mentirto lie to each other, se plaire (complaire/déplaire)to like each other, se sourireto smile at each other, se rireto laugh at each other, se nuireto hurt each other, se succéderto succeed each other, se suffireto be enough, se ressemblerto look like each other, s’en vouloirto be annoyed with each other. This is because the reflexive pronoun is an indirect object. It is used in the sense of “each other” for these verbs.

se rendre compte

Note: the past participle of se rendre compte doesn’t change its ending.

Example:
Je ne crois pas qu’elle se soit rendu compte de son erreur.I don’t think that she’s realised her mistake.
not: se soit rendue compte