How do you know when to use the subjunctive?

Let’s start with the difference between indicative and subjunctive. These are what we call the two possible MOODS for a verb to be in. The subjunctive is often used to indicate subjectivity, uncertainty or unreality- also wishing, hoping and fearing often require the subjunctive. Often a phrase that requires the subjunctive will end in ‘que’. Can you remember how the subjunctive conjugates differently to the indicative? Let’s try with ‘être’ and ‘avoir’ (n.b. here I would engage student). Confusingly, there is no single rule as to when to use the subjunctive, but several things ‘trigger’ its use and you can memorise these for your exams. For example, certain set ‘conjunctive’ phrases (e.g. a phrase you use at the start of a sentence). You should learn a few by heart. Some examples of the most common phrases that require the subjunctive are ‘bien que…’ ‘although’ - e.g. ‘bien qu’il SOIT fatiqué, il ira à l’école quand même’ ‘although he is tired he will go to school anyway’. Others that require the subjunctive are ‘pour que’ ‘so that’, ‘à moins que’, ‘unless’, ‘quoique’ ‘even though’, ‘pourvu que’ ‘provided that’ and ‘afin que’ ‘so that.’ You will find that native speakers use these more naturally in writing than when speaking but you must try and inject them into your speaking exams too. The subjunctive is much more extensive than this, so we will continue to go over it in our next lessons.