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Subjunctive tenses

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 Conjugate verbs in the subjunctive tenses in French 


Although it is not vital for communication, the subjunctive mood is used, and should be used, in a number of everyday grammatical contexts. It is used in everyday language in two tenses, the present and the perfect (or composite past); uses of other subjunctive tenses are nowadays confined to very literary, refined, stilted or administrative French.

► For uses and examples of verbs in the subjunctive, see Examples


1.  Forms: the subjunctive tenses

Tenses (subjunctive) : regular verbs in -er
Person Present
(may love may be loving
Perfect or past  (parfait)
(may have loved)
Imperfect / preterite
(might love)
1st singular. j'aime j'aie aimé j'aimasse
2nd singular tu aimes tu aies aimé tu aimasses
3rd singular il, elle... aime il ait aimé il aimât
1st plural nous aimions nous ayons aimé nous aimassions
2nd plural vous aimiez vous ayez aimé vous aimassiez
3rd plural ils aiment ils aient aimé ils aimassent
Notes (very rare)

Tenses (subjunctive) : regular verbs in -ir
Person Present
(may finish may be finishing
Perfect or past (parfait)
(may have finished)
Imperfect / preterite
(might finish)
1st singular. j'finisse j'aie finis je finisse
2nd singular tu finisses tu aies finis tu finisses
3rd singular il, elle... finisse il ait finis il finît
1st plural nous finissions nous ayons finis nous finissassions
2nd plural vous finissiez vous ayez finis vous finissassiez
3rd plural ils finissent ils aient finis ils finissent
Notes (very rare)

Tenses (subjunctive) : regular group 3 verbs like vendre
Person Present
(may sell may be selling
Perfect or past (parfait)
(may have sold)
Imperfect / preterite
(might sell)
1st singular. je vende j'aie vendu je vendisse
2nd singular tu vendes tu aies vendu tu vendisses
3rd singular il, elle... vende il ait vendu il vendît
1st plural nous vendions nous ayons vendu nous vendissions
2nd plural vous vendiez vous ayez vendu vous vendissiez
3rd plural ils vendent ils aient vendu ils vendissent
Notes (very rare)

The examples above are for regular verbs. Irregular verbs frequently follow the same patterns, but may need to be learned individually, except for the perfect or past tense which is valid for all verbs.

See individual conjugation pages for subjunctive forms of être or of avoir.
 
Passive subjunctive tenses exist too; they are formed using the appropriate subjunctive tense of the auxiliary être, instead of the indicative form used for notmal indicative passive tenses:
Example:  Aimer

Tenses (subjunctive) :
Person Present
(may be loved
Perfect (parfait)
(may have beenloved)
imperfect / preterit
(may have been loved)
1st singular. je sois aimé j'aie été aimé je fusse aimé




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