The French Subjunctive - Part 2 - Irregular Verbs

The French Subjunctive - Part 1

In our last lesson, we introduced the general rule for conjugating French verbs in the present subjunctive: take the third-person plural (ils/elles) present indicative form of the verb, remove the -ent, and add the subjunctive endings: -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, and -ent. While this rule applies to the vast majority of verbs, some of the most common French verbs have irregular subjunctive conjugations.

In this video about a tile factory in Courboissy, we find two irregular subjunctive verbs in the same caption, both introduced by the phrase pour que (in order that, so that):

Alors soit pour que ça soit respirant,

So either in order for it to be breathable,

pour que vous ayez une maison respirante...

so that you have a breathable house...

Caption 37, Salon Eco Habitat - Terres cuites de Courboissy
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The first verb is être (to be), which is conjugated as follows in the subjunctive: je sois, tu sois, il/elle/on soit, nous soyons, vous soyez, ils/elles soient. Note that the first soit in the above caption is not the same as the third-person subjunctive form of être—it's a separate word meaning "either." See our lesson Either/Or for more information on that.

The second verb, avoir (to have), looks like this in the subjunctive: j'aie, tu aies, il/elle/on ait, nous ayons, vous ayez, ils/elles aient.

Like the first-person subjunctive forms of avoir, those of aller (to go) also begin with ai-: j'aille, tu ailles, il/elle/on aille.

Si vous voulez que je m'en aille

If you want me to go away

Caption 17, Bertrand Pierre - Si vous n'avez rien à me dire
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But in the nous and vous forms, the i changes position: nous allions, vous alliez. Then it goes back to where it was for the third-person plural: ils/elles aillent.

Most forms of vouloir (to want) contain the letters euille: je veuille, tu veuilles, il/elle/on veuille, ils/elles veuillent.

...il n'y a rien d'autre à faire

...there's nothing else to do

qu'à attendre que le vent veuille bien se lever.

but wait until the wind finally decides to pick up.

Captions 15-16, Il était une fois - les Explorateurs - 10. Amerigo Vespucci
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But its nous and vous forms look a little different: nous voulions, vous vouliez.

Faire (to make or to do) and pouvoir (to be able to) both have a double s in the subjunctive:

Maintenant qu'on est en numéro trois,

Now that we are on step three,

il faut qu'on fasse quatre, cinq, six.

we have to do four, five, six.

Caption 36, B-Girl Frak - Le "6-Step"
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Et maintenant pose ton assiette en or devant moi

And now set your gold plate before me

pour que je puisse manger son contenu.

so that I can eat its contents.

Captions 4-5, Contes de fées - Le roi grenouille
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The full subjunctive conjugations of these verbs are:

je fasse, tu fasses, il/elle/on fasse, nous fassions, vous fassiez, ils/elles fassent
je puisse, tu puisses, il/elle/on puisse, nous puissions, vous puissiez, ils/elles puissent

Finally, there's savoir (to know), which has a ch in the subjunctive: je sache, tu saches, il/elle/on sache, nous sachions, vous sachiez, ils/elles sachent.

Comment tu veux que je le sache moi?

How do you want [expect] me to know?

Congrats! You're now fully capable of conjugating any French verb in the present subjunctive. Feel free to send us any suggestions for future lesson topics by tweeting us @yabla or emailing us at newsletter@yabla.com.

Topics Grammar