French Subjunctive: Impersonal Expressions, Will, and Emotion

The Subjunctive Mood in French

The subjunctive mood is used to express attitudes, opinions, personal will, hypotheses, or doubt.

Forming the Present Subjunctive

For most verbs, the present subjunctive is formed by taking the ils/elles stem of the present indicative and adding the subjunctive endings.
For nous and vous forms, the imparfait forms are used.

Regular Verb Endings

Here's how to form the present subjunctive for regular -er, -ir, and -re verbs:

	parler	finir	attendre
Stem	parlent	finissent	attendent
que je/j'	parle	finisse	attende
que tu	parles	finisses	attendes
qu'il/elle/on	parle	finisse	attende
que nous	parlions	finissions	attendions
que vous	parliez	finissiez	attendiez
qu'ils/elles	parlent	finissent	attendent

Verbs with Spelling or Stem Changes

The same pattern is used for verbs with spelling or stem changes:

acheter: achète, achètes, achète, achetions, achetiez, achètent
croire: croie, croies, croie, croyions, croyiez, croient
prendre: prenne, prennes, prenne, prenions, preniez, prennent
recevoir: reçoive, reçoives, reçoive, recevions, receviez, reçoivent

Irregular Verbs

Some verbs have irregular forms in the present subjunctive:

	Subjunctive Forms
aller	aille, ailles, aille, allions, alliez, aillent
avoir	aie, aies, ait, ayons, ayez, aient
être	sois, sois, soit, soyons, soyez, soient
faire	fasse, fasses, fasse, fassions, fassiez, fassent
pouvoir	puisse, puisses, puisse, puissions, puissiez, puissent
savoir	sache, saches, sache, sachions, sachiez, sachent
vouloir	veuille, veuilles, veuille, voulions, vouliez, veuillent

Impersonal Expressions and Verbs of Will and Emotion

Sentences requiring the subjunctive follow the pattern:

[Main clause] + que + [Subordinate clause].

The subjects of the two clauses are different, and que is used to connect them. Que is required in French, unlike the optional "that" in English.

Impersonal Expressions

The subjunctive is used after many impersonal expressions that state an opinion:

Ce n'est pas la peine que… - It is not worth the effort…
Il est bon que… - It is good that…
Il est dommage que… - It is a shame that…
Il est essentiel que… - It is essential that…
Il est étonnant que… - It is surprising that…
Il est important que… - It is important that…
Il est indispensable que… - It is essential that…
Il est nécessaire que… - It is necessary that…
Il est possible que… - It is possible that…
Il est surprenant que… - It is surprising that…
Il faut que… - One must…/ It is necessary that…
Il vaut mieux que… - It is better that…

Expressions of Will

When the main clause expresses will, use the subjunctive in the subordinate clause:

demander que… - to ask that…
désirer que… - to desire that…
exiger que… - to demand that…
préférer que… - to prefer that…
proposer que… - to propose that…
recommander que… - to recommend that…
souhaiter que… - to hope that…
suggérer que… - to suggest that…
vouloir que… - to want that…

Expressions of Emotion

When the main clause expresses emotion, use the subjunctive in the subordinate clause:

aimer que… - to like that…
avoir peur que… - to be afraid that…
être content(e) que… - to be happy that…
être désolé(e) que… - to be sorry that…
être étonné(e) que… - to be surprised that…
être fâché(e) que… - to be mad that…
être fier/fière que… - to be proud that…
être ravi(e) que… - to be delighted that…
regretter que… - to regret that…

Exception: espérer

Although the verb espérer expresses emotion, it does not trigger the subjunctive.

Infinitive Use

If there is no change of subject in the sentence, an infinitive is used after the main verb, and que is omitted.

Irregular Subjunctive Forms (Third Person Singular)

Some verbs used only in the third person singular have irregular present subjunctive forms:

valoir (to be worth it): qu'il vaille
falloir (to be necessary): qu'il faille
pleuvoir (to rain): qu'il pleuve

Demander with Indirect Object

The verb demander is often used with an indirect object + de + [infinitive].