How to Conjugate French Subjunctive

Follow these steps to learn how to easily conjugate the French subjunctive.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Good news: The regular form of the French subjunctive easy to conjugate because you simply add these ends to the stem of the word. (The stem of the verb is everything without the suffix or ending (-er, -ir, -re). For example, the stem for parler, an –er verb, is parl-; the stem for finir, an –ir verb, is fin-.)

2. Memorize the –er/-ir endings (such as toucher, partir)
   - e (je)
   - es (tu)
   - e (il/elle/on)
   - ions (nous)
   - iez (vous)
   - isent (ils,elles)

3. Memorize the endings for –re verbs (such as rendre)
   - e
   - es
   - e
   - ions
   - iez
   - ent

4. Note that there are some –er, -ir, -re verbs that have spelling changes in their stems. For example, for an -ir verb, venir:
   - vienne
   - viennes
   - vienne
   - venions
   - veniez
   - viennent

5. Bad news: -oir verbs are generally unique or irregular because very few of them are conjugated in the same fashion. For example, pouvoir and devoir both end in –oir. However, the first person singular (je) of pouvoir is puisse while the first person singular of recevoir is doive. You will have to memorize each verb's particular subjunctive.

6. How to use the subjunctive? When in doubt, use the subjunctive as it is mostly used to express emotion, hope, desire and doubt. For those who have learned Spanish, there are some similarities in usage.
   Emotion: je ne supporte plus que tu mentes ainsi (I can longer stand you lying like this).
   Desire: je veux que vous nous rendiez nos passeports (I want you to give us back our passports).
   Doubt: Je ne crois pas ce soit la meilleure idee (I don't think it's the best idea).