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.  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 a  past subjunctive. Present Subjunctive Is Used for Both Present and Future In general, the French subjunctive  mood  is used to express actions or ideas that are subjective or otherwise uncertain: will/wanting, emotion, doubt, possibility, necessity, judgment.  The key to understanding this mood is  to remember that the subjunctive subjectivity or unreality.   The subjunctive is nearly always found in dependent clauses introduced by  que  or  qui, and the subjects of the dependent and main clauses are usually different:   Je veux que tu le fasses.I want you to do it.  Ã‚  Il faut que nous partions.Its necessary that we leave. / We have to leave.Il est  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 that  express someones will, an  order, a need, a piece of advice, or a desire require the subjunctive: aimer mieux que  to like better / to prefer thatcommander que  to order thatdemander que  to ask (someone to do somethingdà ©sirer que  to desire thatdonner lordre que  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 que  to love thataimer que  to like thatapprà ©cier que  to appreciate that Verbs and expressions of doubt, possibility, supposition, and opinion require the subjunctive: accepter que to acceptsattendre ce que  to expectdà ©tester que  to hate Certain  verbs and expressions take the subjunctive when they are negative or interrogatory because they express uncertainty in the speakers mind: cest que  its that/becauseconnaà ®tre (quelquun) qui  Ã‚  Ã‚  to know (someone) thatcroire que  to believe that A number of French  conjunctive phrases  require the subjunctive: moins que*  Ã‚  Ã‚  unless supposer que  Ã‚  Ã‚  assuming thatafin que  Ã‚  Ã‚  so thatavant que*  Ã‚  Ã‚  before condition que  Ã‚  Ã‚  provided that The subjunctive is required  In a subordinate clause with the  negative pronouns  ne...personne  or  ne...rien, or the  indefinite pronouns  quelquun  or  quelque chose:   Ã‚  Je ne connais personne qui veuille maider.I dont know anyone who wants to help me.   Ã‚  ll ny a rien que nous puissions faire.Theres nothing that we can do. The subjunctive is  optional after main clauses that contain certain adjectives, such as  seul,  unique,  premier,  principal,  dernier, or any  superlative,  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 plural  ils  form of the  present tense of the verb, drop the -ent  ending to find the stem, and add the subjunctive endings: Many verbs that  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, have  irregular subjunctive conjugations.

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