Avoiding the Subjunctive

Many situations in French call for the use of the subjunctive mood, a tricky concept for English speakers learning the language. Fortunately, there are some ways of avoiding subjunctives by using an infinitive or another turn of phrase instead. Let's focus on one of these ways in this lesson.

Some subordinating conjunctions that trigger the subjunctive, such as afin que (in order to) and avant que (before), can sometimes change to afin de/avant de + infinitive, as long as the main clause and dependent clause share the same subject.

Let's start with some sentences where the subjunctive is unavoidable. In the example below, we have two different subjects, on (an indeterminate third-person pronoun rendered by the passive voice in English) and les voleurs (the thieves). Both subjects perform different actions: on (they, someone) place crocodiles, and les voleurs (the thieves) pull back. Therefore, we have to keep the subjunctive:

Et selon la légende, on y aurait même installé des crocodiles afin que les voleurs fassent définitivement marche arrière.

And according to the legend, crocodiles might even have been placed there so that the thieves would definitely pull back.

Captions 28-29, Voyage dans Paris Le 17ème arrondissement de Paris

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Likewise, in the following example, we can't change avant que + subjunctive to avant de + infinitive, because we're dealing with two conflicting parties (tu and les humains): 

Croqueur, tu dois partir du zoo avant que les humains ne viennent te chercher.

Croqueur, you have to leave the zoo before the humans come looking for you.

Captions 15-16, Les zooriginaux La rage de Croqueur - Part 4

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Certain fixed, idiomatic expressions like avant qu’il ne soit trop tard (before it’s too late) can't be reworded to avoid the subjunctive either: 

Il nous faut absolument démasquer les coupables avant qu'il ne soit trop tard.

We absolutely must uncover the culprits before it's too late.

Caption 45. Il était une fois: L’Espace - 6. La révolte des robots - Part 7

Now here's an example that can be reworded:

Ensuite on va enlever du feu, rajouter la farine d'un bloc et remuer très rapidement afin que ça ne forme pas de grumeaux.

Then we're going to take [it] off the heat, add the flour in one go, and stir very quickly so that it doesn't form lumps.

Captions 7-9, Asma Le roulé mangue, vanille et fruits de la passion - Part 2

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Here, afin que + subjunctive can be changed to afin de + infinitive because the subject is identical in both the main and dependent clauses. The main subject, on (we, i.e. the cook) is taking food off the heat to avoid a chemical reaction, former des grumeaux (forming lumps). (Technically, ça is the subject of the dependent clause, but the sentence as a whole is describing the action of one person, the cook.) So now we can get rid of the subjunctive and say afin de ne pas former de grumeaux (so as not to form lumps): 

Ensuite on va enlever du feu, rajouter la farine d'un bloc et remuer très rapidement afin de ne pas former de grumeaux.

Then we're going to take [it] off the heat, add the flour in one go, and stir very quickly so as not to form lumps.

Likewise, this example with avant que can be reworded since the subject (nous) is the same in both clauses:

Ne pouvons-nous pas nous reposer un peu, avant que nous arrivions au ciel ?

Can't we rest a little before we arrive at the sky?

Captions 21-22, Piggeldy et Frédéric Le ciel

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Ne pouvons-nous pas nous reposer un peu avant d'arriver au ciel ?

Can't we rest a little before arriving at the sky?

Piggeldy also could have avoided the subjunctive in another way, by using avant + noun: 

Ne pouvons-nous pas nous reposer un peu, avant notre arrivée au ciel ?

Can't we rest a little before our arrival at the sky?

On the flip side, there are some instances where afin de/avant de is preferable to afin que/avant que. Take this sentence:

Avant de conclure, j'aimerais quand même te montrer quelques exemples qui se construisent

Before concluding, I'd still like to show you a few examples that are constructed

Captions 63-64, Français avec Nelly À ou De ? - Part 2

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Although the alternative with avant que + subjunctive is technically correct, it would sound stilted in French:

Avant que je conclue, j'aimerais quand même te montrer quelques exemples…

Before I conclude, I'd still like to show you quelques exemples…

In conclusion, keep these constructions in mind afin d'éviter le subjonctif (in order to avoid the subjunctive). Bon courage and thank you for reading!