Subjonctif - French Subjunctive

Conjugations of Irregular Verbs

Many students of French find that the subjunctive is very difficult to master, but hopefully this lesson will simplify matters for you. In Part I, we learned how to conjugate the present subjunctive of regular verbs. In Part II, we will learn the present subjunctive of irregular verbs. And finally in Part III, we will learn to use the subjunctive.

In working with the subjunctive, there are 3 kinds of irregular verbs. The first is two-stem verbs, which follow the same pattern as regular verbs for the singular conjugations (je, tu, il, elle, on) as well as the third person plural (ils/elles). However, they use the first person plural (nous) as the stem for their nous and vous forms of the subjunctive. Most irregular verbs follow this pattern:

		boire	envoyer	prendre	venir
Nous		buvons	envoyons	prenons	venons
stem		buv	envoy	pren	ven
Subjunctive endings
... que nous	-ions	buvions	envoyions	prenions	venions
... que vous	-iez	buviez	envoyiez	preniez	veniez
Ils		boivent	envoient	prennent	viennent
stem		boiv	envoi	prenn	vienn
Subjunctive endings
... que je	-e	boive	envoie	prenne	vienne
... que tu	-es	boives	envoies	prennes	viennes
... qu' il/elle/on	-e	boive	envoie	prenne	vienne
... qu' ils/elles	-ent	boivent	envoient	prennent	viennent

Other verbs which follow this two-stem rule are appeler, croire, devoir, jeter, mourir, payer, préférer, recevoir, and voir.

The second category is verbs which have irregular stems but which still use the same endings. This is the complete list:

	aller	faire	pouvoir	savoir	vouloir
... que je (j')	aille	fasse	puisse	sache	veuille
... que tu	ailles	fasses	puisses	saches	veuilles
... qu' il/elle/on	aille	fasse	puisse	sache	veuille
... que nous	allions	fassions	puissions	sachions	voulions
... que vous	alliez	fassiez	puissiez	sachiez	vouliez
... qu' ils/elles	aillent	fassent	puissent	sachent	veuillent

Note that aller and vouloir are two-stem verbs

The third type of irregular verb in the subjunctive is verbs with two stems and irregular endings. This is, of course, avoir and être.

	avoir	être
... que je (j')	aie	sois
... que tu	aies	sois
... qu' il/elle/on	ait	soit
... que nous	ayons	soyons
... que vous	ayez	soyez
... qu' ils / elles	aient	soient

  

Test on irregular forms     French Verb Lessons     The Subjunctivator!

Regular forms     Using the subjunctive     Subjonctif passé

Avoiding the subjunctive     Verb Timeline    Grammar Glossary

  

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