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French subjunctive: forms, triggers and contrast with the indicative

CEFR B1

What you will learn

  • Form the present subjunctive with one or two stems and recognise six common irregular forms.
  • Choose the subjunctive, indicative or infinitive from the French construction and whether the subjects are the same.

The idea

You do not choose the mood by translating: first identify the expression introducing the subordinate clause, then check whether the two verbs share a subject.

The endings are “-e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent”. Many verbs use the present-tense “ils” stem: “ils finissent” gives “que je finisse”. Two-stem verbs keep the “nous/vous” present stem for those persons: “ils viennent” gives “que je vienne”, but “nous venons” gives “que nous venions”.

Necessity, will, emotion, evaluation and doubt often trigger it when the clauses have different subjects: “il faut que tu partes”, “je veux qu’elle vienne”, “je suis content que vous soyez là”. Conjunctions such as “bien que”, “pour que”, “avant que” and “sans que” also require it.

Several common affirmative constructions take the indicative: “j’espère qu’il viendra”, “je pense qu’elle a raison”, “il est probable qu’ils arriveront”. Negating or questioning “penser/croire” can favour the subjunctive, but context and degree of certainty matter: spelling alone is not an automatic switch.

When the subject stays the same, French normally prefers an infinitive: “je veux partir”, “je travaille pour réussir”. “Que + subjunctive” introduces a different subject: “je veux que tu partes”.

Working paradigm

Personparlerfinirvenir
jeparlefinissevienne
tuparlesfinissesviennes
il/elle/onparlefinissevienne
nousparlionsfinissionsvenions
vousparliezfinissiezveniez
ils/ellesparlentfinissentviennent

All forms follow “que”. “Venir” makes the stem change in nous/vous visible.

How it sounds

  • Il faut que nous partions tôt.“Il faut que” requires the subjunctive. The subordinate subject is “nous”. “Partir” uses the stem “part-” and the ending “-ions”.
A necessity bell, wish star and emotion heart pass through a decision gate while a fact compass follows a separate route.
First recognise the construction that opens the gate; then form the verb.

Your turn

Two or three, to check that the bit above landed.

  1. Use this image

    Il faut que nous ___ ce dossier avant midi.

    finissions — “Il faut que” requires the subjunctive; “nous” takes “finiss-” + “-ions”.

  2. Use this image

    J’espère qu’elle ___ demain matin.

    viendra — Affirmative “espérer que” takes the indicative; “demain” places the event in the future.

  3. Use this image

    Choose the normal sentence when the person preferring and returning is the same: ___

    Je préfère rentrer tôt. — With the same subject, “préférer” normally takes an infinitive.

When it doesn't hold

What breaks the rule, said out loud. Hiding it is what makes you feel cheated in the exam.

  • Different subjectJe veux que tu viennes.
  • Same subjectJe veux venir.
  • Affirmative hopeJ’espère qu’il viendra.

What your own language pushes you to say

Wrong J’espère qu’elle vienne demain.

Right J’espère qu’elle viendra demain.

Romance-language learners may overuse a subjunctive after “espérer”; affirmative French normally uses the indicative. English speakers face the opposite risk and may fail to mark the subjunctive after “il faut que”.

Curriculum alignment and sources

Once it makes sense

Practise this: When French needs the subjunctive (and when it does not)Past participle agreement: auxiliary, object and positionReported speech: person, tense and viewpointSi clauses: real, imagined and past conditionsOn and the passive: choosing sentence focusSpoken and written French: adapting register