Subjunctives as a special verb form to talk about possibilities and sentiments have mostly disappeared in English, leaving only a few surviving simple cases. However, it’s an essential part of the French language.
Table of Contents
What are subjunctives?
Tenses and Conjugations
How should I use them?
What are clauses?
In a Subordinate Clause
In the Main Clause
Conclusion
What are subjunctives?
Angela: I heard there is a party this weekend. I wish I could go, but I have an exam. Are you coming?
François: Yea. It’ll be fun. I wish you came. If I were you, I would have studied more couple of weeks ago.
Angela: If only I knew…
François: Anyways, good luck with your exam.
In the example above, Angela wishes she could come to the party and François also wishes that Angela could come. In addition, he used an expression “If I were you, something would happen.” to talk about the possibilities. This is one way how subjunctive mode forms in English – by using past tenses of the verbs.
In French, action verbs have indicative mode and subjective mode. Most temporal conjugations of verbs, such as ‘je chois’, ‘tu es venu’ are in the indicative mode. This means the indicative mode can be used to indicate the tense of the verb and the time of the action, whether it’s in the past, the present or the future, etc. In contrast, the subjunctive mode is non-temporal, so it’s not used to describe an action. It serves a function of talking about possibilities in general, whereas the indicative mode is associated with the certainty of an action. This mode comes handy for expressing the doubt, the desire, the sentiment and emotions, the obligation, the regret, giving orders and so on.
Tenses and Conjugations
The subjunctive mode has only three tenses – present tense, past tense, and plus-que-parfait. The past tense and plus-que-parfait are composed tenses, which means the conjugation of the subjunctive mode only happens on the auxiliaries have or be. Following the auxiliaries, the main verb is conjugated in the participe passé. We therefore only need to look at the conjugation of the present tense.
- regular form: the 3rd personnel plural radical + the ending -s, -es, -s, -ions, -iez, or -ent.
- for nous and vous, the endings are the conditional form.
- for the rest, the endings are the present form of the 1st group verbs.
- For example, the conjugation of boire in the present indicative form and the present subjunctive form are given below respectively:
- indicative: je bois, tu bois, elle boit, nous buvons, vous buvez, ils boivent.
- subjunctive: je boive, tu boives, elle boive, nous boivions, vous boiviez, ils boivent.
- The irregular form of common words:être: je sois, tu sois, elle soit, nous soyons, vous soyez, ils soient.
- avoir: j’aie, tu aies, elle ait, nous ayons, vous ayez, ils aient.
- aller: j’aille, tu ailles, elle aille, nous allions, vous alliez, ils aillent.
- faire: je fasse, tu fasses, elle fasse, nous fassions, vous fassiez, ils fassent.
- savoir: je sache, tu saches, elle sache, nous sachions, vous sachiez, ils sachent.
- pouvour: je puisse, tu puisses, elle puisse, nous puissions, vous puissiez, ils puissent.
How should I use them?
What are clauses?
For most of the time, the subjunctive mode is applied in the subordinate clause of a sentence. For example, ‘I wish she were here.’ The subordinate clause is ‘(that) she were here’ and ‘were’ is the subjunctive mode. Notice that the indicative mode is ‘she was here.’ The main clause is ‘I wish…’ which is in the indicative mode. The French translation would be something like ‘Je souhaite qu’elle soit là.’ where soit is the subjunctive present form of être.
Note: In French, clauses are not used when the subject of the main clause is also the subject of the subordinate. Instead of the clause, use an infinitive, i.e. to do, after the main verb. For example, in English it’s okay to say ‘I wish I were there.’ However, it’s grammatically incorrect to say ‘J’aimerais que je sois là.’ Instead, you should say ‘J’aimerais être là.’ And that means ‘I wish to be there.’
In a Subordinate Clause
We need to mainly focus on the following three types of subordinate clauses associated with subjunctive mode. The tense of the subordinate clause depends on the main clause. The first type is des subordonnées complétives conjonctives, and this type of subordinate is used to complement to the verb or adjective. For example, ‘It is possible that …’ or ‘I wish that…’
The purpose of this type of subordinate clauses is that now we are able to describe the possibilities or express our emotions. If the indicative mode is generally associated with opinions and facts, something in your head, then the subjunctive mode is related to your heart – expressing wishes, regrets, fear and so on. I borrowed some examples from a grammar book here (Bescherelle – La Grammaire pour tous):
- a necessity: Il faut qu’il repeigne nos volets.
- a wish (une souhait): J’aimerais qu’il repeigne nos volets avant l’hiver.
- a possibility: Il est possible qu’il repeigne nos volets avant l’hiver.
- a doubt: Je doute qu’il puisse repeindre nos volets avant l’hiver.
- an emotion: Je suis heureux qu’il ait pu repeindre nos volets avant l’hiver.
- a judgement: J’admire qu’il ait réussi à repeindre nos volets avant l’hiver.
Note: Clauses following verbs such penser, croire, être certaine que are in the indicative mode when it’s a positive statement. When it’s negative or a question, it’s less certain and we therefore use the subjunctive mode.
Note: If in a clause both indicative mode and subjunctive mode can be applied, the indicative often implies a fact, while the subjunctive indicates an request and order. Compare: ‘Elle dit que tu ne l’attends pas.’ and ‘Elle dit que tu ne l’attende pas.’
Note: When talking about wish and hope, we cannot use the subjunctive mode if verb in the main clause is espérer (hope).
Note: When a subordinate clause with the conjunctive que is at the beginning of a sentence, the verb in the clause is in the subjunctive mode. For example, ‘Qu’il ait arrêté de fumer est une certitude.’ In English, ‘That he’d stopped smoking is certain.’ In this example, although we talk about a fact, the subjunctive mode is still applied.
Now we move on to the second type of subordinate clauses – des subordonnées circonstancielles. This type of subordinates indicates the logic between the phrases or sentences. Conjunctions such as afin que and avant que signify the circumstance. Here are some examples of the common logic conjunctives:
- Temporal indication: avant que, jusqu’à ce que
- Contradiction: bien que, quoique
- Purpose: afin que, pour que
- Condition: à moins que, pourvu que, pour peu que
- Other expressions such as non que, soit que… soit que…
Finally, in certain cases when the subordinate clause is a relative clause, the subjunctive mode is used. For example, if the existence of the thing or person you try to describe with the clause is not certain. A common application is when you’re looking for something or when you ask such a question ‘Is there any … who/which (subjunctive)?’ For example, ‘I’m looking for a book which teaches people how to make the perfect coffee cake.’ This book might not exist at all. In French, thus the word teaches/shows would be put into the subjunctive mode: ‘Je cherche un livre qui me montre comment faire le gâteau au café parfait.’ Another case is that the antecedent doesn’t exist at all: A similar use of the mode can be seen in the description of the thing that does not exist. ‘Je ne trouve pas de livre qui me plaise.’ One more case can be given when the relative clause describes the noun after the only … or superlatives: Here, the English rule is that the relative pronoun should be that, and the French rule is apply the subjunctive mode on the verb. ‘Tu es le meilleur ami que j’aie.’
In the Main Clause
The subjunctive mode can also be found in a main clause or an independent simple sentence. For example, ‘Que le meilleur gagne.’ This sentence expresses someone’s wish. Que is often a sign of the mode, but it’s not necessarily always the case. The present tense is generally associated with the future actions, while the past tense envisages the future actions.
- An order: Qu’il vienne avec son sac de couchage.
- Note: This can only be used on the 3rd personnel subject. Otherwise, we use imperative. For example, ‘Do your homework.’
- A wish: Fasse le ciel qu’il ne leur soit rien arrivé.
- Note: The sentence doesn’t have to initiate with que.
- Fury (an emotion): Moi, que j’accepte les excuses!
- Supposition: Soit une droite AB passant par un point C.
Conclusion
The subjunctive mode is very commonly used in French, and its grammatical rules are more complex than those in English. I suggest learners should first understand this mode is generally talking about possibilities and associated feelings rather than the action per se, and then practise to apply this mode in different kinds of subordinate clauses. If you find this helpful, you may like to check out my other posts and articles. See you there.