What is the subjunctive and how do I use it?

The subjunctive is an emotive mood which expresses hopes, emotions, doubts, uncertainty and necessity. It can seem daunting at first, but when you learn how to use it it is a really great way to show your examiners that you can understand and manipulate complex grammatical structures!

When is the subjunctive used?-when expressing personal desire (e.g. je veux que + subj, j'espère que +subj),
-expressions of necessity (e.g. il faut que +subj)
-when expressing emotion (e.g. j'ai peur que + subj, je suis content que +subj),
- for expressions of judgement or personal opinion (e.g. il est dommage que + subj, il est triste que +subj),
-to express doubt or uncertainty (e.g. je ne crois pas que + subj, je doute que +subj)
-for expressions of probability (another form of doubt) (il est possible que +subj)
-impersonal expressions of impossibility (e.g. c'est impossible que + subj)
-with certain set phrases (e.g. bien que + subj, quoique +subj, pour que +subj).

How do I form the subjunctive?To form the subjunctive take the ils form of a verb and remove the -ent ending to create your stem.ER VERB: eg. jouer -> ils jouent -> jouent = jou
RE VERB: eg. prendre -> ils prennent -> prennent = prenn
IR VERB: eg. finir -> ils finissent -> finissent = finiss
From your stem add on the subjunctive endings which are:
je -e (je joue, je prenne, je finisse) tu -es (tu joues, tu prennes, tu finisses) il/elle -e (il joue, il prenne, il finisse) nous -ions (nous jouions, nous prenions, nous finissions) vous -iez (vous jouiez, vous preniez, vous finissiez ). ils -ent (ils jouent, ils prennent, ils finissent )

Really irregular subjunctive you should learn: avoir = j'aie, tu aies, il/elle ait, nous ayons, vous ayez, ils aient être= je sois, tu sois, il/elle soit, nous soyons, vous soyez, ils soient

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