Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Future Subjunctive Tense in French Grammar
Future Subjunctive Tense in French Grammar There is no future subjunctive in French. The present subjunctive is used for both present and future.à There is no future subjunctive per se. Even if the action is to happen in the future, the present subjunctive is used. However, there is aà past subjunctive. Present Subjunctive Is Used for Both Present and Future In general, the French subjunctiveà moodà is used to express actions or ideas that are subjective or otherwise uncertain: will/wanting, emotion, doubt, possibility, necessity, judgment.à The key to understanding this mood isà to remember that the subjunctive subjectivity or unreality.à The subjunctive is nearly always found in dependent clauses introduced byà queà orà qui, and the subjects of the dependent and main clauses are usually different: à Je veux que tu le fasses.I want you to do it.à à Il faut que nous partions.Its necessary that we leave. / We have to leave.Il està possible quil arrive demain.Its possible that he will arrive tomorrow.Cest bon que tu sois prà ªt midi.Its good that youll be ready at noon. Verbs and expressions thatà express someones will, anà order, a need, a piece of advice, or a desire require the subjunctive: aimer mieux queà to like better / to prefer thatcommander queà to order thatdemander queà to ask (someone to do somethingdà ©sirer queà to desire thatdonner lordre queà to order that Verbs and expressions of emotion or feeling, such as fear, happiness, anger, regret, surprise, or any other sentiments, require the subjunctive: adorer queà to love thataimer queà to like thatapprà ©cier queà to appreciate that Verbs and expressions of doubt, possibility, supposition, and opinion require the subjunctive: accepter que to acceptsattendre ce queà to expectdà ©tester queà to hate Certainà verbs and expressions take the subjunctive when they are negative or interrogatory because they express uncertainty in the speakers mind: cest queà its that/becauseconnaà ®tre (quelquun) quià à à to know (someone) thatcroire queà to believe that A number of Frenchà conjunctive phrasesà require the subjunctive: moins que*à à à unless supposer queà à à assuming thatafin queà à à so thatavant que*à à à before condition queà à à provided that The subjunctive is requiredà In a subordinate clause with theà negative pronounsà ne...personneà orà ne...rien, or theà indefinite pronounsà quelquunà orà quelque chose: à à Je ne connais personne qui veuille maider.I dont know anyone who wants to help me. à à ll ny a rien que nous puissions faire.Theres nothing that we can do. The subjunctive isà optional after main clauses that contain certain adjectives, such asà seul,à unique,à premier,à principal,à dernier, or anyà superlative,à It depends on how concrete the speaker feels about what is being said:Hà ©là ¨ne est la seule personne qui puisse nous aider.Hà ©là ¨ne is the only person who can help us.(Hà ©là ¨ne may be the only person I think can help us, but there may be others.)Hà ©là ¨ne est la seule personne que je vois.Hà ©là ¨ne is the only person I see.(No subjunctive, because I know this for a fact - I only see Hà ©là ¨ne.) Conjugating the Subjunctive Is Relatively Straightforward To conjugate all regular verbs ending -ER, -IR, and -RE, as well as some irregular* ones, take the 3rd person pluralà ilsà form of theà present tense of the verb, drop the -entà ending to find the stem, and add the subjunctive endings: Many verbs thatà are irregular in the present tense are regular in the subjunctive, including all -IR verbs conjugated like partir and sortir and -RE verbs conjugated like mettre. Other irregular verbs, as well as all stem-changing verbs, haveà irregular subjunctive conjugations.
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