The present subjunctive: How to form and use it in French?

To form the present subjunctive for regular -er verbs in French, you’ll use the same forms of the verb as you do for the indicative present tense in French, except for with nous and vous.

1. For je, tu, il, elle, on, ils, and elles→ subjunctive present = regular present

2. For nous and vous → subjunctive present = i + present tense endings

Let’s take the most romantic verb aimer (meaning to love):

To form the present subjunctive with -ir and -er verbs, you will use the stems of the ils (for je, tu, il, elle, on, ils, and elles) and nous indicative present tense conjugations. This formation strategy will work for all -ir and -re verbs (aside from the seven irregular present subjunctive verbs).

Here’s the two-step technique for the je, tu, il, elle, on, ils, and elles conjugations (before you end up knowing them by heart). We’ll use the verb écrire (meaning to write) as an example.

• Step 1: Find the base of ils and nous in the regular present tense

  ils écrivent
  nous écrivons

• Step 2: Add the following endings

  Pronoun(s)	Ending	Example: écrire (meaning to write)
  je	-e	écrive
  tu	-es	écrives
  il, elle, on	-e	écrive
  nous	-ions	écrivions
  vous	-iez	écriviez
  ils, elles	-ent	écrivent

However, nous and vous are often the odd ones, because the stem for nous and vous verbs in the present tense will sometimes be different from the stem for other subjects. Let’s look at the verb prendere (meaning to talk), which is a verb that has a special stem used for the ils and nous/vous form:

• Step 1: Find the base of ils and nous in the regular present tense

  ils prennent
  nous prenons

• Step 2: Add the following endings

  Pronoun(s)	Ending	Example: prendere (meaning to talk)
  je	-e	prenne
  tu	-es	prennes
  il, elle, on	-e	prenne
  nous	-ions	prenions
  vous	-iez	preniez
  ils, elles	-ent	prennent

Here are the seven irregular verbs in the present subjunctive you need to know by heart to make your life easier in French!

1. être

   Translation: to be
2. avoir

   Translation: to have
3. aller

   Translation: to go
4. vouloir

   Translation: to want
5. faire

   Translation: to do
6. savoir

   Translation: to know
7. pouvoir

   Translation: to be able to

To form the past subjunctive in French, you will form a compound tense with the auxiliary avoir (meaning to have) or être (meaning to be) conjugated in the present subjunctive, along with a past participle.

If you’d like to learn more about the past subjunctive, check out our separate article on the past subjunctive in French!

There are some expressions to learn by heart that trigger the present subjunctive. You already saw one, il faut que (meaning one must), in the section above! Take a look:

1. il faut que

   Translation: one must
2. il vaut mieux que

   Translation: it’d be better if
3. dommage que

   Translation: shame that
4. pourvu que

   Translation: provided that
5. pour que

   Translation: in order to
6. avant que

   Translation: before
7. bien que

   Translation: although
8. jusqu'à ce que

   Translation: until

For example:

There is a very straightforward rule when it comes to adjectives and the subjunctive: if you see an adjective after être (meaning to be) or trouver (meaning to find, to consider), use the subjunctive.

You must also use the subjunctive with verbs expressing emotions, judgments, volition, and doubts.

Let’s look at some examples:

The present subjunctive is also used after a French negation phrase with verbs expressing thoughts. For non-negative sentences with verbs expressing thoughts, the second clause is in the indicative. For example:

Devoir (meaning must, have to) is a useful alternative to the subjunctive, but it can sound a bit blunt. Instead of using a subjunctive expression, such as il vaut mieux que (meaning it'd be better if), you can use devoir and an infinitive. For example:

You can also use the imperative as an alternative for using the subjunctive.

The French Infinitive is another alternative to the present subjunctive. This is not a bad option, but it is more impersonal.

Here are some additional cunning strategies to avoid using the present subjunctive: