Question

French Tutorial: Subjunctive

Answer 1

\({\bf{Subjunctive:}}\) a mood used to describe opinions, probabilities, necessities of a certain action or idea. often times this takes the form of main clause in the indicative, followed by "que" (that), followed by a dependent subjunctive clause.

This is much easier to understand through examples.

Il est important que les gens participent. (It is important that people participate.)
Il est injuste que les trolls attirent l'attention. (It is unfair that trolls get attention.)
Je doute qu'elle s'en soucie. (I doubt that she cares.)

For this tutorial, I will focus on present subjunctive although I wil briefly mention how past subjunctive may be used.

Answer 2

\({\bf{Regular~Subjunctive:}}\) for regular verbs, form the subunctive by taking the ils/elles form of the present tense verb, drop the -ent, and add the appropriate verb ending.

Conjugations
je: -e
tu: -es
il/elle/on: -e
nous: -ions
vous: -iez
ils/elles: -ent

ex: choisir ---> ils choisissent ---> choisiss- + ending
Il est nécessaire que vous choisissiez judicieusement vos amis. (It is necessary that you choose your friends wisely.)

Answer 3

\({\bf{Irregular~Subjunctive:}}\) as mentioned before in the irregular verbs tutorials, some verbs have different stems in the nous/vous form in the indicative form.

example: venir --> nous/vous form has the stem ven- while all the other conjugations take the stem vien-, so in the subjunctive:

que je vienne
que tu viennes
qu'il/elle vienne
que nous venions
que vous veniez
qu'ils/elles viennent

there are other irregular forms that do not follow the above pattern. for example, faire:

que je fasse
que tu fasses
qu'il/elle fasse
que nous fassions
que vous fassiez
qu'ils/elles fassent

être and avoir are also irregular.

être

que je sois
que tu sois
qu'il/elle soit
que nous soyons
que vous soyez
qu'ils/elles soient

avoir

que j'aie
que tu aies
qu'il/elle ait
que nous ayons
que vous ayez
qu'ils/elles aient

Answer 4

\({\bf{Uses:}}\) subjunctive expressions can be impersonal (taking the impersonal subject "il" to refer to an unspecified "it") or personal (with a noun/pronoun subject.) note that, without "que," the main clause changes to the infitive form and "that" changes to "to."

- to express necessities/obligations
examples:
> il est essential de/que (It is essential to. note that you can replace essential with some other related adjective like important, nécessaire, etc.)
> il faut/il faut que (it is necessary to/that, one must)
> il vaut mieux/il vaut mieux que (it is better that)

Il est essentiel que l'on soit préparé. (It is essential that one be prepared.)
Il faut que les gens restent informés. (It is necessary that people stay informed.)
Il vaut mieux être productif. (It is better to be productive.)

- to express opinions
example:
> il est bon de/que: (it is good to/that. note that you can replace bon with many other adjectives, such as injuste, inutile, etc.)

Il est bon que les paresseux échouent. (It is good that lazy people fail.)

- to express probabilities/possibilities/doubts
examples:
> il est certain que (It is certain that. note that you can replace certain with many other adjectives such as vrai, clair, probable, etc.)
> je doube que (I doubt that. of course, you can use another subject with this)

Il est certain qu'il est dévoué. (It is certain that he is devoted.)
Je doute que les personnes qui interrompent mes tutoriels soient très performantes.. (I doubt that the people who interrupt my tutorials are high-achievers.)

- to express desires, volitions, and emotions
these are usually used as personal expressions rather than impersonal ones
examples:
> aimer que (to love/like that)
> exiger que (to demand that)
> préférer que (to prefer that)

J'adore que les chats soient distants. (I love that cats are aloof.)
Ils exigent que leurs droits ne soient pas violés. (They demand that their rights are not violated.)
Nous préférons que les gens nous respectent. (We prefer that people respect us.)

Answer 5

\({\bf{Subjunctive~vs~Infinitive:}}\) typically you would only use the subjunctive when there is a change of subject between the subjunctive + main clause. If the subject does not change, use the infinitive instead.

ex:
Je suis heureux d'avoir terminé tout mon livre en français. (I am happy that I finished my whole French book. notice how "avoir" is in the infinitive form.) vs. Nous sommes heureux que vous soyez ici. (We are happy that you are here. notice how "soyez" is in subjunctive.)

Answer 6

\({\bf{Past~Subjunctive:}}\) consists of être or avoir as appropriate, followed by the past participle of the main verb. it can be used to express thoughts/feelings about a past action.

ex:
Je suis surpris qu'il soit venu. (I am surprised that he came.)
Ils avaient peur que leurs enfants ont menti. (They were afraid that their children had lied.)
Elle était désolée que la relation ait échoué. (She was sorry that the relationship had failed.)

Answer 7

\({\bf{References:}}\)

Rochester, Myrna B. Easy French Step-by-Step, United States, McGraw-Hill Education, 2009, 334-350. (Finished!!!)

https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/using-impersonal-expressions/

CollinsDictionary for French and English translations

Forvo (https://forvo.com/), a French pronunciation database with samples from native French speakers

Answer 8

Now that I've finished this set of tutorials, I'd like to thank the people who viewed my tutorials without interrupting. I'd also like to thank their parents for actually being parents and raising them to respect other people's hard work.