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The subjunctive: impersonal expressions; will, opinion, and emotion

Samir ne veut pas que son père ait honte.

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The subjunctive: impersonal expressions; will, opinion, and emotion

Forms of the present subjunctive

• You have already been using verb tenses in the indicative mood. You can also use French verbs in the subjunctive mood, which is used to express an attitude, an opinion, or personal will, or to imply hypothesis or doubt.

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The subjunctive: impersonal expressions; will, opinion, and emotion

• To form the present subjunctive of most verbs, take the ils/elles stem of the present indicative and add the subjunctive endings. For nous and vous, use their imparfait forms.

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The subjunctive: impersonal expressions; will, opinion, and emotion

The present subjunctive

parler finir attendre

que je/j’

que tu

qu’il/elle

que nous

que vous

qu’ils/elles

parlent

parle

parles

parle

parlions

parliez

parlent

finissent

finisse

finisses

finisse

finissions

finissiez

finissent

attendent

attende

attendes

attende

attendions

attendiez

attendent

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The subjunctive: impersonal expressions; will, opinion, and emotion

• Use the same pattern to form the subjunctive of verbs with spelling or stem changes.

acheter

croire

prendre

recevoir

achète, achètes, achète, achetions, achetiez, achètent

croie, croies, croie, croyions, croyiez, croient

prenne, prennes, prenne, prenions, preniez, prennent

reçoive, reçoives, reçoive, recevions, receviez, reçoivent

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The subjunctive: impersonal expressions; will, opinion, and emotion

• Some verbs are unpredictably irregular in the present subjunctive.

aller

avoir

être

faire

pouvoir

savoir

vouloir

aille, ailles, aille, allions, alliez, aillent

aie, aies, ait, ayons, ayez, aient

sois, sois, soit, soyons, soyez, soient

fasse, fasses, fasse, fassions, fassiez, fassent

puisse, puisses, puisse, puissions, puissiez, puissent

sache, saches, sache, sachions, sachiez, sachent

veuille, veuilles, veuille, voulions, vouliez, veuillent

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The subjunctive: impersonal expressions; will, opinion, and emotion

Impersonal expressions and verbs of will and emotion

• Sentences calling for the subjunctive fit the pattern [main clause] + que + [subordinate clause]. In each case, the subjects of the two clauses are different and que is used to connect the clauses. Note that although the word that is optional in English, the word que cannot be omitted in French.

MAIN CLAUSE

Il est étonnantIt is surprising

CONNECTOR

que(that)

SUBORDINATE CLAUSE

Thierry ne connaisse pas ses parents.Thierry doesn’t know his parents.

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The subjunctive: impersonal expressions; will, opinion, and emotion

• The subjunctive is used after many impersonal expressions that state an opinion.

Impersonal expressions followed by the subjunctive

Ce n’est pas la peine que… It is not worth the effort…

Il est bon que… It is good that…

Il est dommage que… It is a shame that…

Il est essentiel que… It is essential that…

Il est étonnant que… It is surprising that…

Il est important que… It is important that…

Il est indispensable que…It is essential that…

Il est nécessaire que… It is necessary that…

Il est possible que… It is possible that…

Il est surprenant que… It is surprising that…

Il faut que… One must… /It is necessary that…

Il vaut mieux que… It is better that…

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The subjunctive: impersonal expressions; will, opinion, and emotion

ATTENTION!

Some verbs used only in the third person singular, including some used in impersonal expressions, have irregular present subjunctive forms.

valoir (to be worth it): qu’il vaille

falloir (to be necessary): qu’il faille

pleuvoir (to rain): qu’il pleuve

Je ne pense pas que ça en vaille la peine.

I don’t think it’s worth the effort.

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The subjunctive: impersonal expressions; will, opinion, and emotion

• When the main clause of a sentence expresses will or emotion, use the subjunctive in the subordinate clause.

Expressions of will Expressions of emotion

demander que… to ask that…

désirer que… to desire that…

exiger que… to demand that…

préférer que… to prefer that…

proposer que… to propose that…

recommander que… to recommend that…

souhaiter que… to hope that…

suggérer que… to suggest that…

vouloir que… to want that…

aimer que… to like that…

avoir peur que… to be afraid that…

être content(e) que… to be happy that…

être désolé(e) que… to be sorry that…

être étonné(e) que… to be surprised that…

être fâché(e) que… to be mad that…

être fier/fière que… to be proud that…

être ravi(e) que… to be delighted that…

regretter que… to regret that…

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The subjunctive: impersonal expressions; will, opinion, and emotion

ATTENTION!

The verb demander is often used with an indirect object + de + [infinitive].

Papa nous demande de rentrer avant minuit.

Dad is asking us to come home before midnight.

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The subjunctive: impersonal expressions; will, opinion, and emotion

Notre grand-père désire qu’on luirende visite cet été.Our grandfather wants us to visithim this summer.

Je suis ravie que nous allionschez notre oncle.I’m delighted that we’re going toour uncle’s house.

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The subjunctive: impersonal expressions; will, opinion, and emotion

• Although the verb espérer expresses emotion, it does not trigger the subjunctive.

J’espère que le nouveau prof n’estpas trop strict.

I hope that the new teacher isn’ttoo strict.

Nous espérons qu’ils ont des citronsà la supérette.

We hope they have lemons atthe mini-market.