The subjunctive mood

1. obligation doubt necessity desire The subjunctivemood wish feeling impossibility possibility uncertainty obligation

2. How to form the subjunctive. Take the 3rd person plural (ils/elles form) That was the easy bit jouentperdentfinissent Remove the –entandadd the endings -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent. jejouetuperdesilfinisse nousjouionsvousperdiezellesfinissent

3. Irregular forms worth learning:

4. When to use the subjunctive. The subjunctive is almost always introduced by queor qu’. que qu’

5. When to use the subjunctive. We call the subjunctive a MOOD not a tense… because it is used largely to convey judgement or attitude rather than fact.

6. When to use the subjunctive. After expressions of necessity ilfautqueit is necessary that ilestnécessaireque ilest urgent queit is urgent that ilfaudraque ilfaudraitque

7. When to use the subjunctive. After expressions of possibility ilest possible queit is possible that il se peutque it may be that il arrive queit happens that ilest impossible queit is impossible that

8. When to use the subjunctive. After verbs of desire aimer queto like (that) désirerqueto wish that préférerqueto prefer that souhaiterqueto wish that vouloirqueto want that

9. When to use the subjunctive. After verbs of permission or request consentir à cequeto agree (that) défendreque to forbid that demander que to ask that empêcherqueto prevent exigerqueto demand that insister que to insist that interdirequeto forbid that ordonnerqueto order that permettrequeto allow

10. When to use the subjunctive. After verbs of emotion avoirhontequeto be ashamed (that) avoirpeurque* to be afraid that craindreque* to fear that être content queto be happy that êtresurprisqueto be surprised that s’étonnerque to be surprised that regretterqueto regret that êtretristequeto be sad that (* + ne) *J’aipeurqu’ilnesoit trop tard.

11. When to use the subjunctive. After verbs of doubt or uncertainty douterqueto doubt that ilestdouteuxque it is doubtful that nierque to deny that semblerque* to seem that ilestpeu probable queit is unlikely that iln’est pas certain queit is not certain that *Il mesemblequecette femme est trop naïve.

12. emotion desire What do they all mean? emotion necessity demand doubt possibility emotion certainty emotion

13. We use the subjunctive in English too. God save our gracious Queen, Long live our noble Queen

14. We use the subjunctive in English too. Churchfields School End of Year Report 1985 Mathematics 45% class average 56% Set 1 of 7 Maryjane constantly undermines my belief in her ability in this subject. It is important that she try harder. I insist that she come to the extra lessons after school on Wednesdays to revise the work she has missed. Miss Garwell class teacher As the subjunctive is a little outdated it is often replaced by the indicative.

15. We also use the subjunctive... after conjunctions of time avantquebefore jusqu’àcequeuntil L’enquêtecontinuerajusqu’àcequ’onsache la vérité.

16. We also use the subjunctive... after conjunctions indicating purpose afinqueso that/ in order that pour que so that/ in order that de façon à cequein such a way that de manière à cequein such a way that J’écoute de la musiqueafinque je puisseoublier le stress.

17. We also use the subjunctive... after conjunctions of condition à condition queon condition that à moinsqueunless pourvuqueprovided that supposéqueassuming that Que.. (at beginning of sentence) whether Quetuviennesou non, çam’estégal.

18. We also use the subjunctive... after negative conjunctions and expressions such as sans quewithout non quenot that cen’est pas queit is not that cela ne veut pas dire quethis does not mean that Il ne voulait pas l’acheter sans quetusoisd’accord.

19. We also use the subjunctive... after these conjunctions bienquealthough quoiquealthough Bien que je mette un pull, j’aitoujoursfroid. after conjunctions indicating fear de peurque (+ ne) for fear that de crainteque(+ ne)for fear that Il n’a pas demandé de peurqu’elledise non.

20. We also use the subjunctive... after a superlative C’est le meilleur James Bond quej’aiejamais vu.

21. We also use the subjunctive... after premier, dernier, seul, unique C’est le seul James Bond que je connaissevraiment.

22. We also use the subjunctive... when you are talking about someone or something which may not exist Je cherchequelqu’un qui puissem’aider. I am looking for somebody who can help me. When you are looking for someone who may not exist, that indicates doubt and therefore requires the subjunctive.

23. Et maintenant, c’est à vous! Underline the verb in the subjunctive in each sentence Trouve le français: It is the worst film I have ever seen. She is the nicest girl I know. You are the only person who knows. I want something which is bigger. I would love to meet a man who had a good sense of humour. • ____________________________________________________________________________________________ • ____________________________________________________________________________________________ • ____________________________________________________________________________________________ • ____________________________________________________________________________________________ • ____________________________________________________________________________________________

24. Et maintenant, c’est à vous! Underline the verb in the subjunctive in each sentence Trouve le français: It is the worst film I have ever seen. She is the nicest girl I know. You are the only person who knows. I want something which is bigger. I would love to meet a man who had a good sense of humour. C’est le pire film que j’aie jamais vu. Elle est la fille la plus sympa que je connaisse. Tu es la seule personne qui sache. Je veux quelque chose qui soit plus grand. J’aimerais rencontrer un homme qui ait un bon sens de l’humour.