INTRODUCTION

The subjunctive tends to cause students a lot of confusion and stress, which is understandable to some degree. While it exists in English, it is not quite as marked as it is in French. The phrase ‘It is important that you be there’ uses the subjunctive, but it may not be immediately obvious because the form resembles that of the simple present. It is more marked in French where it has a completely different conjugation pattern. For example, the sentence ‘Il est important que tu sois là’ (It is important that you be there) is in the subjunctive. Here there is a clear difference between the subjunctive ‘tu sois’ and the indicative ‘tu es’.

The subjunctive is a mood just like the indicative. It is primarily used to express uncertainty and doubt but can also express wishes and desires. It is almost always preceded by ‘que’; in a handful of cases, it is preceded by ‘qui’, and sometimes by neither.

It may help to think of the subjunctive as the expression of uncertainty or doubt regarding the realisation of an action and the expression of subjective experiences (emotions, hopes, wishes, etc.). Not all usage fits neatly within these parameters, but it will help in most cases.

CONJUGATION PATTERN

As with all moods and tenses, the subjunctive has a distinctive conjugation pattern. Regular ‘er’ verbs (e.g. marcher, aimer, jouer, etc.) don’t show as much variation as other verb groups, so they often look the same as the indicative depending on the grammatical person (1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd person singular or ‘je’, ‘tu’ and ‘il/elle’ forms all look more or less identical). The examples below illustrate these variations:

Example 1

Il aime marcher à l’ école tous les matins – He likes walking to school every morning

‘Aimer’ is a regular ‘er’ verb and is used here in what we call the present tense of the indicative.

Elle est surprise qu’il aime marcher à l’ école tous les matins – She is surprised that he likes walking to school every morning

‘Aimer’ here is now in the present tense of the subjunctive, but looks exactly the same as the indicative form

Example 2

Est-ce que tu viens à la réunion ce soir ? – Are you coming to the meeting tonight ?

‘Venir’ is an irregular ‘ir’ verb and is used here in the present tense of the indicative.

Il est important que tu viennes à la réunion ce soir – It is important that you come to the meeting tonight

‘Venir’ here is now in the present tense of the subjunctive, and looks quite different from the indicative form

EXPRESSIONS WHICH ALWAYS USE THE SUBJUNCTIVE

There are quite a few expressions which are always employed with the subjunctive. They include:

 à moins que (unless), de peur que/avoir peur que (for fear that/to be afraid that), afin que (so that), pour que (so that, in order that), à condition que(provided that, with the proviso that), pourvu que (provided that, as long as), vouloir que (to want), bien que (even though, although), quoique (like ‘bien que’), de crainte que (for fear that), quoi que (whatever), falloir que (to be necessary), avant que (before), en attendant que (while waiting for), jusqu’à ce que (until), où que (wherever), sans que (without, unless), souhaiter que (wish that, want that), aimer que (same as ‘souhaiter que’; usually employed in the conditional), éxiger que (to require, to demand), être + adjective + que (for example, être content(e) que, être surpris(e) que, être triste que, etc.), avoir besoin que (to need)

It is worth noting that ‘que’ is used to introduce a clause (for example, ‘his father works too much’ is a clause in the sentence ‘He thinks that his father works too much’). This means a sentence cannot end with ‘que’ because it will have an incomplete meaning. Therefore, all the expressions above need to be followed by a clause (which will contain a verb).

While ‘que’ can generally be translated as ‘that’, sometimes it means other things and at times it cannot be translated at all. While ‘that’ can almost always be omitted without affecting the grammaticality of a sentence in English, ‘que’ is always needed.

The examples below will illustrate these variations (the subjunctive is underlined, while the corresponding infinitive form is placed in brackets at the end of the sentence).

Je veux que tu fasses la vaisselle (faire) – I want you to do the dishes [‘que’ cannot be translated directly]

Bien que l’Internet soit utile, il constitue une menace pour notre santé (être) – Even though the Internet can be useful, it poses a threat to our health [‘que’ cannot be translated directly]

Ma mère me permet de sortir à condition que je revienne avant minuit (revenir) – My mother allows me to go out provided (that) I return before midnight [‘that’ can be omitted here without loss of meaning]