subject: Advanced French - How To Master The Dreaded Subjunctive [print this page] Advanced French - How To Master The Dreaded Subjunctive
Many English-speakers of very fluent French simply never get the hang of it.
What is the subjunctive mood?
Often mistakenly called a tense, the subjunctive mood or mode is a verb form that is used in certain grammatical contexts. We therefore have two problems. What are the forms of the subjunctive of a verb? When do we use them?
Although there are various tenses of the subjunctive, the only one in everyday use is the present subjunctive. Here is the conjugation for the three most common verbs in French:tre "to be". avoir "to have" and faire "to do".
je sois, tu sois, il/elle/on soit, nous soyons, vous soyez, ils/elles soient
j'aie, tu aies, il/elle/on ait, nous ayons, vous ayez, ils/elles aient
je fasse, tu fasses, il/elle/on fasse, nous fassions, vous fassiez, ils/elles fassent
The reason the subjunctive is so difficult for English-speakers is that it barely exists in English. There are traces in expressions like "If I were..." and "the powers that be" where the "were" and "be" would be called the subjunctive. But even these forms seem to be dying out in spoken English.
French on the other hand uses it all the time, and Spanish even more so. Although it can get very complicated in literary usage, everyday French simplifies it to basically three situations.
1. The trigger il faut que
The most common trigger of the subjunctive is the verb falloir (to be obliged to) which is used only in the following forms:il faut que (it must be that) or its other tensesil a fallu que andil faudra que or il va falloir que. Memorize these forms because they are extremely common and always take the subjunctive. Here are some examples:
Il faut que je sois au bureau avant 8 heures. (I have to be in the office before 8 o'clock.)
Il faudra que tu fasses le travail pour samedi. (You have to do the work for Saturday.)
Il va falloir que nous ayons le rapport ce soir. (We have to have the report this evening.)
2. Verbs of need, desire, wish, regret, doubt
Certain verbs that require the subjunctive include: vouloir que (want),souhaiter que (wish),regretter que (regret),dsirer que (desire),douter que (doubt),craindre que (fear),aimer que (like),tre content que (to be glad),tre heureux que (to be happy) and many others. Notice how we've added theque to these verbs. That should be a hint that the subjunctive might follow. Here are examples:
Je veux que tu sois l'heure. (I want you to be on time.)
Que veux-tu que je fasse? (What do you want me to do?)
Elle regrette qu'elle soit oblige de manquer la reunion. (She regrets having to miss the meeting.)
Nous craignons qu'elle ait du retard. (We're afraid that she might be late.)
Je suis content que mon pre soit vivant. (I'm glad that my father is alive.)
Je ne crois pas qu'elles aient l'argent ncessaire. (I don't think they have the necessary money.)
3. Certain prepositions
The third major category of subjunctive usages is with certain prepositions:pour que, sans que, afin que, de sorte que, avant que, etc.. Again, remark the trigger wordque. Here are some examples with other verbs.
Il s'absente sans que je le sache. (He goes away without my knowing.)
Je te le dis pour que tu puisses agir temps. (I'm telling you this so that you can act in time.)
Il faut appeler tout de suite avant que le train (ne) parte. (We have to call right away before the train leaves.)
In this last example, notice that the il faut is not followed byque. Also note that the(ne) in front of parte is an optional form used in formal language. It is called thene expltif.
If you keep these three ideas in mind and look out for thatque, you should be able to recognize the vast majority of situations where the subjunctive is necessary.
Stanley St-Yves Aleong believes that the best way to move from intermediate to advanced fluency in French or Spanish is to work with many carefully selected authentic examples. To learn more about a very effective wall-chart learning tool based on this principle, visitAdvanced French / Spanish
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