| Nicolas: | Est-ce que tu connais bien le code de la route, Catherine ? |
| Catherine: | Bien sûr ! C’est essentiel de connaître les règles et les panneaux quand on conduit. |
| Nicolas: | Oui en théorie... Mais sais-tu quelle est la distance de sécurité qu’on doit garder quand on roule à 110 km/heure ou quelle pression de pneu on doit maintenir ? Sais-tu combien d’accidents mortels ont lieu chaque année en dépit des mesures de prévention prises par le gouvernement ? |
| Catherine: | Euh… non pas exactement. Il faut dire que j’avais 16 ans quand j’ai passé mon examen du code… Depuis quand existe le code de la route ? J’imagine qu’il n’a été essentiel de mettre en place une réglementation précise qu’avec l’invention des voitures. |
The subjunctive tense is common in the French language. However, it can be challenging for non-native French speakers to determine in which situations to use it and with which phrases and verbs.
In this chapter, we will study the form of the present subjunctive as well as its use. First we will start with the form of the verbs then we’ll explore the use of this tense.
The subjunctive tense is ALWAYS preceded with “que”. So in all the conjugations of the verbs throughout this chapter, we will have “que” before the verb in the subjunctive.
In this part, we will try to answer a very common question that French learners often ask: When do we use the present subjunctive?
We use the subjunctive in subordinate clauses introduced by the relative pronoun “que”. But again, not all subordinate clauses require the subjunctive tense.
First, it is important to mention that the use of the present subjunctive depends more on the meaning expressed in the sentence than the verbs or the expressions that are used in the sentence. That’s why it is sometimes hard to determine whether we should use the subjunctive, the indicative or the conditional.
The subjunctive is generally used when we want to express probability, possibility, uncertainty, emotion, obligation, fear, judgment, necessity or wish.
As we already stated, the subjunctive can be sometimes confusing even for native speakers. Fortunately, there are ways we could use to avoid the subjunctive in some sentences. These are the following:
For example:
Il faut que tu te dépêches !
You must hurry!
Il faut se dépêcher !
You/We must hurry!
The only difference between the two sentences above is that in the first sentence, we know who the subject is, whereas the second sentence is impersonal. We use the infinitive clause when the action is more important than the person who does it.
Here is how we replace each impersonal phrase:
For example:
Remember: We have to remember that to be able to use the infinitive clause to replace the subjunctive, we need to have the same subject in the main and subordinate clause; otherwise, it would be confusing to determine who does the action represented by the infinitive clause.
The following example shows how confusing a sentence can be when we replace the subjunctive with an infinitive clause when we have two different subjects.
Je vais essayer de l’attraper avant qu’il n’aille au commissariat.
I will try to catch him before he goes to the police station.
Je vais essayer de l’attraper avant d’aller au commissariat.
I will try to catch him before going to the police station.
The sentences above have two different meanings as you can see. In the first sentence we understand that it’s “he” who is going to the police station. In the second sentence, we understand , it’s “I” who is going to the police station.
For example:
Ne le lâche pas jusqu’à ce que la police arrive.
Don’t let go of him until the police shows up.
Ne le lâche pas jusqu’à l’arrivée de la police.
Don’t let go of him until the arrival of the police.
Il a décidé de ne pas sortir de la maison jusqu’à ce qu’il obtienne son diplôme.
He decided not to go out until he obtains his diploma.
Il a décidé de ne pas sortir de la maison jusqu’à l’obtention de son diplôme.
He decided not go out until graduating.
To avoid the subjunctive with the conjunction “bien que”, we could replace it with “malgré” or “en dépit de” and replace the subordinate clause with a noun phrase.
For example:
Il a accepté de m’aider bien qu’il soit très occupé.
He accepted to help me even though he is very busy.
Il a accepté de m’aider malgré/en dépit de ses occupations.
He accepted to help me despite his busy schedule.
J’ai pris la responsabilité de ce projet bien que je n’aie pas beaucoup de temps ces derniers jours.
I took the responsibility of this project even though I don’t have a lot of time these days.
J’ai pris la responsabilité de ce projet malgré/en dépit de mon manque de temps ces derniers jours.
I took the responsibility of this project despite my lack of time.
In this chapter, we will study the form of the present subjunctive as well as its use. First we will start with the form of the verbs then we’ll explore the use of this tense.
The subjunctive tense is ALWAYS preceded with “que”. So in all the conjugations of the verbs throughout this chapter, we will have “que” before the verb in the subjunctive.
In this part, we will try to answer a very common question that French learners often ask: When do we use the present subjunctive?
We use the subjunctive in subordinate clauses introduced by the relative pronoun “que”. But again, not all subordinate clauses require the subjunctive tense.
First, it is important to mention that the use of the present subjunctive depends more on the meaning expressed in the sentence than the verbs or the expressions that are used in the sentence. That’s why it is sometimes hard to determine whether we should use the subjunctive, the indicative or the conditional.
The subjunctive is generally used when we want to express probability, possibility, uncertainty, emotion, obligation, fear, judgment, necessity or wish.
As we already stated, the subjunctive can be sometimes confusing even for native speakers. Fortunately, there are ways we could use to avoid the subjunctive in some sentences. These are the following:
Use of the infinitive with impersonal phrases
With impersonal phrases such as: il faut que, il est essentiel que, il est important que, il est nécessaire que, il est dommage que, we can avoid the subjunctive by using infinitive clauses instead of subordinate clauses, but be careful not to change the meaning.For example:
Il faut que tu te dépêches !
You must hurry!
Il faut se dépêcher !
You/We must hurry!
The only difference between the two sentences above is that in the first sentence, we know who the subject is, whereas the second sentence is impersonal. We use the infinitive clause when the action is more important than the person who does it.
Here is how we replace each impersonal phrase:
Impersonal Phrases followed with the subjunctive | Impersonal Phrases followed with the infinitive |
| Il faut que tu manges beaucoup de légumes. You must eat a lot of veggies. | Il faut manger beaucoup de légumes. You/We/One must eat a lot veggies. Tu dois/devrais manger beaucoup de légumes. You must/should eat a lot of veggies. |
| Il est essentiel / il est important / il est nécessaire que tu manges beaucoup de légumes. It is essential/ it is important/ it is necessary that you eat a lot of veggies. | Il est essentiel / il est important / il est nécessaire de manger beaucoup de légumes. It is essential/ it is important/ it is necessary to eat a lot of veggies. |
| Il est dommage qu’ils détruisent la vieille église. It’s a pity they destroy the old church. | Il est dommage de détruire la vieille église. It’s a pity to destroy the old church. |
| Il est préférable que vous arriviez à l’heure. It’s preferable that you get here on time. | Il est préférable d’arriver à l’heure. It’s preferable to get here on time. |
The Use of the Infinitive with Certain Conjunctions
We can also replace a subordinate clause with an infinitive clause when using certain conjunctions that require the use of the subjunctive.For example:
Subjunctive | Infinitive |
| Nous arriverons en retard à moins que nous ne prenions le train. We will be late unless we take the train. | Nous arriverons en retard à moins de prendre le train. We will be late unless we take the train. |
| Tu pourras sortir ce soir à condition que tu fasses la vaisselle. You can go out tonight on the condition that you do the dishes. | Tu pourras sortir ce soir à condition de faire la vaisselle. You can go out tonight on the condition that you do the dishes. |
| Il se déguise toujours avant de sortir de crainte qu’on le reconnaisse. He always disguises himself before going out for fear that they would recognize him. | Il se déguise toujours avant de sortir de crainte d’être reconnu. He always disguises himself before going out for fear of being recognized. (Notice here that we used the passive voice instead of the active voice) |
Remember: We have to remember that to be able to use the infinitive clause to replace the subjunctive, we need to have the same subject in the main and subordinate clause; otherwise, it would be confusing to determine who does the action represented by the infinitive clause.
The following example shows how confusing a sentence can be when we replace the subjunctive with an infinitive clause when we have two different subjects.
Je vais essayer de l’attraper avant qu’il n’aille au commissariat.
I will try to catch him before he goes to the police station.
Je vais essayer de l’attraper avant d’aller au commissariat.
I will try to catch him before going to the police station.
The sentences above have two different meanings as you can see. In the first sentence we understand that it’s “he” who is going to the police station. In the second sentence, we understand , it’s “I” who is going to the police station.
Replacing the Subordinate Clause with a Noun Phrase
To avoid the subjunctive with the conjunction “jusqu’à ce que”, we could replace the subordinate clause with a noun.For example:
Ne le lâche pas jusqu’à ce que la police arrive.
Don’t let go of him until the police shows up.
Ne le lâche pas jusqu’à l’arrivée de la police.
Don’t let go of him until the arrival of the police.
Il a décidé de ne pas sortir de la maison jusqu’à ce qu’il obtienne son diplôme.
He decided not to go out until he obtains his diploma.
Il a décidé de ne pas sortir de la maison jusqu’à l’obtention de son diplôme.
He decided not go out until graduating.
To avoid the subjunctive with the conjunction “bien que”, we could replace it with “malgré” or “en dépit de” and replace the subordinate clause with a noun phrase.
For example:
Il a accepté de m’aider bien qu’il soit très occupé.
He accepted to help me even though he is very busy.
Il a accepté de m’aider malgré/en dépit de ses occupations.
He accepted to help me despite his busy schedule.
J’ai pris la responsabilité de ce projet bien que je n’aie pas beaucoup de temps ces derniers jours.
I took the responsibility of this project even though I don’t have a lot of time these days.
J’ai pris la responsabilité de ce projet malgré/en dépit de mon manque de temps ces derniers jours.
I took the responsibility of this project despite my lack of time.
Replace the subordinate clause that requires the subjunctive with an infinitive clause. Don’t forget that “il faut que” doesn’t need the preposition “de” before the infinitive.
An example is given:
Il est nécessaire que tu fasses des efforts pour réussir.
Il est nécessaire de faire des efforts pour réussir.
Il est nécessaire que tu fasses des efforts pour réussir.
Il est nécessaire de faire des efforts pour réussir.
- Il faut qu’on l’aide à s’en sortir.
Il faut à s’en sortir. - Il est nécessaire que nous fassions du sport.
Il est nécessaire du sport. - Il est important que tu apprennes à taper à l'ordinateur.
Il est important à taper sur un ordinateur. - Il est dommage que vous laissiez l’occasion vous passer sous le nez.
Il est dommage l’occasion vous passer sous le nez. - Il faut que tu convainques ton frère d’acheter nos produits.
Il faut ton frère d’acheter nos produits. - Il est préférable qu’il laisse ses enfants répondre sans intervenir.
Il est préférable ses enfants répondre sans intervenir. - Il est essentiel que nous soyons vigilants.
Il est essentiel vigilant. - Il est nécessaire que nous revoyions nos comptes.
Il est nécessairenos comptes. - Il est dommage qu’on prenne mes propos pour des menaces.
Il est dommage mes propos pour des menaces. - Il faut que vous expliquiez à ma femme ce qui est arrivé aujourd’hui.
Il faut à ma femme ce qui est arrivé aujourd’hui.
Replace the subordinate clauses with infinitive clauses in the following sentences. Pay special attention to the conjunctions “jusqu’à ce que” and “bien que” and how you can replace them. To help you, we supplied the nouns in brackets.
- C’est à ta portée de main d’accomplir des miracles à condition que tu sois ouvert aux opinions des autres.
Tu pourras accomplir des miracles ouvert aux opinions des autres. - Il nous restera très peu d’argent à investir à moins que nous ne vendions l’usine.
Il nous restera très peu d’argent à investir l’usine. - Il continue à la harceler bien qu’elle ait changé (son changement) d’adresse.
Il continue à la harceler d’adresse. - Mes parents sont restés avec moi jusqu’à ce que mon train arrive (l’arrivée).
Mes parents sont restés avec moi mon train. - Promis, je te laisserai tranquille à condition que tu me dises la vérité.
Promis, tu seras tranquille la vérité. - Le découvert nous attend à moins qu’on ne fasse des économies monstres.
On sera à découvert des économies monstres. - Elle restera chez ses parents jusqu’à ce qu’elle accouche (accouchement).
Elle restera chez ses parents . - Nous garderons tes enfants jusqu’à ce que tu retournes (ton retour) à la maison.
Nous garderons tes enfants à la maison. - Il a expliqué les choses bien clairement de crainte que je ne m’embrouille.
Il a expliqué les choses bien clairement . - Il continuera à nous harceler à moins que nous coupions tout contact avec lui.
Nous serons encore harcelés tout contact avec lui.