subjunctive & imperative! (verbs and their prepositions)
verbs followed by à/de and the infinitive
| verbs that are directly followed by an infinitive | verbs that are directly followed by à | verbs that are directly followed by de |
|---|---|---|
| -aimer-aller-devoir-espérer-falloir (il faut)-pouvoir-préférer-savoir-vouloir | -aider à-s’amuser à-apprendre à -arriver-commencer à-continuer à-encourager à-penser à - thinking with the heart (de -mind)-reussir à | -(s’) arrêter de-avoir peur/raison de-choisir de-conseiller de-craindre de-décider de-dire de-essayer de-mourir de-offrir de-oublier de -venir de |
^^subjonctif^^
The subjunctive is a mood in French (along with indicative, imperative, and conditional) and is used quite frequently, compared to English. The subjunctive mood has both a past and present tense. This mood also expresses ideas including: a wish, hope, or doubt. It also includes obligation and necessity. A phrase that it ALWAYS followed by the subjunctive is il faut que.
-er, -re, and -ir verbs
The subjunctive endings are the same for all verbs: -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent. The subjunctive mood is formed by dropping the -ent ending from the third person plural (ils/elles) of the present indicative and adding the endings. Also note that the same stem is used for the subjunctive and the present indicative and that the endings are also identical except for the nous and vous forms.
^^imperative^^
The three forms for the French imperative are: tu, nous, and vous.
- The conjugation is the same as the present tense except that for -er verbs, the last -s is dropped in the tu form.
- Object pronouns are used in the imperative. For affirmative commands, the object pronoun comes after the verb and both are joined by a hyphen. For negative commands, the object pronoun comes before the verb.In cases where both direct and indirect object pronouns are present, direct object pronouns come first before the indirect.
AFFIRMATIVE AFTER: Excusez-moi.
NEGATIVE BEFORE: Ne leur parlons pas.
*direct before indirect*
Direct object pronouns are: le, la, les
Indirect object pronouns are: moi, toi, lui, nous, vous, leur.