French grammar by topic › The French subjunctive, explained

The French subjunctive, explained

The subjunctive (le subjonctif) is a verb form for things that are wanted, felt, doubted or not yet real. It almost always appears after que, in a sentence where the first part expresses a wish, a feeling, a necessity or a doubt.

It looks harder than it is. Most forms come from the ils form of the present tense, and a short list of triggers covers nearly every case you'll meet.

The essentials

Formation: take the ils form of the present, drop -ent, add -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent (qu'ils parlent → que je parle).
Main triggers: wishes and necessity (je veux que, il faut que), emotions (je suis content que), doubt (je doute que), and some conjunctions (bien que, pour que, avant que).
Same subject in both parts? Use an infinitive instead: je veux partir, not je veux que je parte.
Penser and croire take the indicative when positive (je pense qu'il vient) and often the subjunctive when negative or in a question.

Every lesson on this topic

Each lesson has a full explanation, examples you can listen to, and exercises with answers.

B2 (the B2 course)

Subjunctive: Que je parle, que nous finissions
Subjunctive: Que je sois, que j'aie, que j'aille, que je fasse
Subjunctive after necessity and wishes: Il faut que, je veux que
Subjunctive after emotions: Je suis content que tu sois là
Subjunctive after doubt: Je ne pense pas qu'il vienne
Subjunctive after conjunctions: Bien que, pour que, avant que, à condition que

C1 (the C1 course)

Past subjunctive: Bien qu'il soit parti
Subjunctive in relative clauses: Je cherche quelqu'un qui sache…

C2 (the C2 course)

Imperfect and pluperfect subjunctive: qu'il fût, qu'il eût fait: literary French

In the app, these lessons are taught one idea at a time with audio, practised until you get them right on three separate days, and brought back when your own French shows a mistake on them.

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