Irregular Subjunctive Verbs in French

If you’ve been studying the subjunctive—one of the most notorious French grammatical moods—you may already know that there are plenty of irregular forms. Fortunately, it’s just a matter of getting comfortable with a few common patterns, even when it comes to the French irregular subjunctive.

In this post, you’ll find three tricks to learn to bring order to irregular subjunctive forms with example conjugations.

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What Are the Regular French Subjunctive Rules?

In order to understand the irregular subjunctive in French, we must first understand the rules for the regular subjunctive. We’ll concentrate on the present tense throughout this article to keep things simple, since that’s the subjunctive tense you’re most likely to encounter.

First, identify the present tense ils/elles (“they” masculine/“they” feminine) form of your verb and remove the -ent ending. Then, replace the ending with the following, depending on your subject:

Subject	Ending
je (I)	-e
tu (you [informal])	-es
il/elle/on (he/she/one)	-e
nous (we)	-ions
vous (you [formal or plural])	-iez
ils/elles (they)	-ent

For example, if we wanted to put the regular verb choisir  (to choose) in the present subjunctive, we would start with ils/elles choisissent (they choose). Next, we chop off the -ent ending so we’re left with the stem choisiss-.

Now we add the subjunctive endings:

French	English
que je choisisse	I choose
que tu choisisses	you choose
qu'il/elle/on choisisse	he/she/one chooses
que nous choisissions	we choose
que vous choisissiez	you choose (formal or plural)
qu'ils/elles choisissent	they choose

Suffice it to say there are many verbs that don’t follow regular subjunctive conjugation rules. So now that you know the regular rules, you’re ready to break them.

French Irregular Subjunctive Tricks

Just because a verb is irregular in the subjunctive doesn’t mean there are no patterns to rely on.

Irregular subjunctive verbs can be grouped into two main groups that share the same rules, which I’ll cover below. Then I’ll show you a third group that breaks all the rules.

1. Verbs with Two Stems

Remember how we created our subjunctive stems above, by chopping -ent off of the present tense ils/elles conjugation? Some verbs have two different stems in the subjunctive depending on the subject.

For example, the verb jeter  (to throw) has the stem jett- for the je, tu, il/elle/on and ils/elles conjugations and the stem jet- for the nous and vous conjugations. Check out this common verb conjugated fully with its two stems:

French	English
que je jette	I throw
que tu jettes	you throw
qu'il/elle/on jette	he/she/one throws
que nous jetions	we throw
que vous jetiez	you throw (formal or plural)
qu'ils/elles jettent	they throw

Not too complicated, right?

Lucky for you, there are many other verbs that follow this two-stem pattern: one stem for the je, tu, il/elle/on and ils/elles conjugations and another for the nous and vous conjugations. Some stem changes are small like the one above, while others are big—as in, the two stems look quite different. Let’s look at some of these verbs more deeply.

Verbs with Small Stem Changes

Generally speaking, these stem changes come down to a single letter or accent. Here are some very common examples with conjugations so you can see for yourself:

Aller (to go) has the stems aill– and all-:

French	English
que j'aille	I go
que tu ailles	you go
qu'il/elle/on aille	he/she/one goes
que nous allions	we go
que vous alliez	you go (formal or plural)
qu'ils/elles aillent	they go

Lever (to lift) has the stems lèv– and lev-:

French	English
que je lève	I lift
que tu lèves	you lift
qu'il/elle/on lève	he/she/one lifts
que nous levions	we lift
que vous leviez	you lift (formal or plural)
qu'ils/elles lèvent	they lift

Essayer (to try) has the stems essai- and essay-:

French	English
que j'essaie	I try
que tu essaies	you try
qu'il/elle/on essaie	he/she/one tries
que nous essayions	we try
que vous essayiez	you try (formal or plural)
qu'ils/elles essaient	they try

Appeler (to call) has the stems appell- and appel-:

French	English
que j'appelle	I call
que tu appelles	you call
qu'il/elle/on appelle	he/she/one calls
que nous appelions	we call
que vous appeliez	you call (formal or plural)
qu'ils/elles appellent	they call

In addition to those common verbs, here’s a list of verbs with small stem changes that are useful to remember:

Verbs	Stem changes
Acheter (to buy)	achèt- for je, tu, il/elle/on and ils/elles  achet- with nous and vous
Croire (to believe)	croi- for je, tu, il/elle/on and ils/elles  croy- with nous and vous
Ennuyer (to bore)	ennui- for je, tu, il/elle/on and ils/elles  ennuy- with nous and vous
Préférer (to prefer)	préfèr- for je, tu, il/elle/on and ils/elles préfér- with nous and vous
Prendre (to take)	prenn- for je, tu, il/elle/on and ils/elles pren- with nous and vous
Voir (to see)	voi- for je, tu, il/elle/on and ils/elles voy- with nous and vous

Verbs with Big Stem Changes

For these verbs, the differences between stems are more significant, usually involving a group of letters.

Some of the most common verbs in this group include the following:

Vouloir (to want) has the stems veuill- and voul-:

French	English
que je veuille	I want
que tu veuilles	you want
qu'il/elle/on veuille	he/she/one wants
que nous voulions	we want
que vous vouliez	you want (formal or plural)
qu'ils/elles veuillent	they want

Devoir (to have to) has the stems doiv- and dev-:

French	English
que je doive	I have to
que tu doives	you have to
qu'il/elle/on doive	he/she/one has to
que nous devions	we have to
que vous deviez	you have to (formal or plural)
qu'ils/elles doivent	they have to

Venir (to come) has the stems vienn- and ven-:

French	English
que je vienne	I come
que tu viennes	you come
qu'il/elle/on vienne	he/she/one comes
que nous venions	we come
que vous veniez	you come (formal or plural)
qu'ils/elles viennent	they come

In addition to these three common verbs, here’s a list of other “big stem change” verbs with their dual stems:

Verbs	Stem changes
Tenir (to keep)	tienn- for je, tu, il/elle/on and ils/elles ten- with nous and vous
Boire (to drink)	boiv- for je, tu, il/elle/on and ils/elles  bev- with nous and vous
Mourir (to die)	meur- for je, tu, il/elle/on and ils/elles   mour- with nous and vous
Recevoir (to receive)	reçoiv- for je, tu, il/elle/on and ils/elles recev- with nous and vous

2. Verbs with Irregular Stems

Unlike the irregular subjunctive verbs above, some verbs simply have an irregular stem that you’ll tack your endings onto when conjugating. Not to worry, though: once you memorize the stem, the rest is easy!

For example, one of the most common verbs in this category is faire  (to do/make). It has the irregular subjunctive stem fass-, and the normal subjunctive endings are added to that. Check out its full conjugation:

French	English
que je fasse	I do
que tu fasses	you do
qu'il/elle/on fasse	he/she/one does
que nous fassions	we do
que vous fassiez	you do (formal or plural)
qu'ils/elles fassent	they do

Here are some other common verbs with irregular subjunctive stems:

Verbs	Irregular subjunctive stems
Pouvoir (to be able to)	puiss-
Savoir (to know)	sach-
Pleuvoir (to rain)	pleuv-
Falloir (to be necessary)	faill-

Keep in mind that pleuvoir and falloir  are normally only ever conjugated in the il/elle/on form. For example, we would only say something like, il est nécessaire qu’il pleuve  (it is necessary that it rains).

3. Completely Irregular Subjunctive Verbs

There are some verbs that don’t seem to follow any rhyme or reason in the subjunctive. Not only are their stems totally irregular, but their endings also don’t follow the patterns outlined above.

Fortunately, this group includes some of the most commonly used verbs in the French language—être (to be) and avoir (to have)—so you may learn them naturally simply through exposure.

Être :

French	English
que je sois	I am
que tu sois	you are
qu'il/elle/on soit	he/she/one is
que nous soyons	we are
que vous soyez	you are (formal or plural)
qu'ils/elles soient	they are

Avoir :

French	English
que j'aie	I have
que tu aies	you have
qu'il/elle/on ait	he/she/one has
que nous ayons	we have
que vous ayez	you have (formal or plural)
qu'ils/elles aient	they have

Where to Practice the French Subjunctive

It can be helpful to have interactive practice tools to make sure you really remember everything. Here are my recommendations:

• Languageguide.org has a quiz that allows you to practice conjugating only present subjunctive irregular forms. Afterward, check out its subsequent quiz that mixes both regular and irregular verbs in the present subjunctive.
• The FluentU program lets you learn the subjunctive by watching native French speakers use it in authentic French videos.

  FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.

  You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.

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• Want a more comprehensive look at irregular verbs? Sporcle offers a quiz that allows you to conjugate common irregular subjunctive verbs fully.
• Lawless French has a quiz with a mix of regular and irregular verbs. This fill-in-the-gap exercise allows you to practice the present subjunctive conjugations in context with example sentences.

 

Now that you’ve learned these three tricks, get out there and get conjugating with the French irregular subjunctive!

Bonne chance ! (Good luck!)

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)