Lesson 5 gave you the forms and the three trigger families. But a great many subjunctives in real French are not triggered by a verb at all — they are triggered by a conjunction or an impersonal expression. These are mechanical: the word appears, the subjunctive follows, no judgement required. That makes them the easiest subjunctives to get right.
Group them by what they mean and they stop being a list to memorise.
| French | Pronunciation | Meaning | Family |
|---|---|---|---|
| bien que | bee-en KUH | although | concession |
| quoique | kwah-KUH | although | concession |
| pour que | poor KUH | so that | purpose |
| afin que | ah-fan KUH | so that (formal) | purpose |
| avant que | ah-vahn KUH | before | time (not yet real) |
| jusqu'Ă ce que | zhĂĽs-kah suh KUH | until | time (not yet real) |
| en attendant que | ahn ah-tahn-dahn KUH | until, while waiting for | time (not yet real) |
| Ă moins que | ah man KUH | unless | condition |
| Ă condition que | ah kohn-dee-syohn KUH | provided that | condition |
| pourvu que | poor-vĂĽ KUH | as long as / let's hope | condition |
| sans que | sahn KUH | without (someone doing) | negation |
| de peur que | duh puhr KUH | for fear that | fear |
Every one of these presents its clause as not a fact: a concession you are waving away, a purpose not yet achieved, a time not yet reached, a condition not yet met, an event that did not happen. The subjunctive is the mood of the unasserted — so these conjunctions are not arbitrary at all.
Several of these have near-identical partners that take the indicative, because their clause is a fact. Learning them in pairs is the fastest way to stop guessing.
| Subjonctif | Indicatif | Why the difference |
|---|---|---|
| avant que tu partes | après que tu es parti | Before = hasn't happened. After = has. |
| bien que ce soit cher | parce que c'est cher | Concession vs. stated cause. |
| jusqu'Ă ce qu'il arrive | pendant qu'il travaille | Not yet reached vs. happening. |
| pour que tu comprennes | puisque tu comprends | Aim vs. accepted fact. |
A note of honesty about après que: the rule says indicative, and that is what you should write, but a great many native speakers say après qu'il soit parti by analogy with avant que. You will hear it constantly. Examiners still mark it wrong.
Il est… and il faut… constructions split cleanly: necessity, possibility, judgement and doubt take the subjunctive; certainty and probability do not.
| Subjonctif | Indicatif |
|---|---|
| Il faut que tu viennes. | Il est certain qu'il vient. |
| Il est possible qu'elle soit lĂ . | Il est probable qu'elle est lĂ . |
| Il est important que vous sachiez. | Il est Ă©vident que vous savez. |
| Il vaut mieux que nous partions. | Il paraît que nous partons. |
| Il semble qu'il ait raison. | Il me semble qu'il a raison. |
| Il est dommage que ce soit fini. | Il est vrai que c'est fini. |
Il semble que takes the subjunctive — an impression, unowned. Add a pronoun and it becomes il me semble que, "it seems to me", which is an opinion you are asserting, so it takes the indicative. One tiny pronoun flips the mood.
Note also that il est probable que takes the indicative while il est peu probable que takes the subjunctive. French treats likelihood as near-certainty and unlikelihood as doubt.
After a superlative, or after le seul, le premier, le dernier, l'unique, French uses the subjunctive — the claim is a personal assessment, not a verifiable fact.
C'est le meilleur film que j'aie jamais vu. — It's the best film I've ever seen.
C'est le seul restaurant qui soit ouvert. — It's the only restaurant that's open.
C'est la première fois que je vienne ici.
The same logic explains the subjunctive after a negative or indefinite antecedent: Je cherche quelqu'un qui sache le russe (I don't know whether such a person exists) versus Je connais quelqu'un qui sait le russe (I do).
After avant que, Ă moins que, de peur que and a few others, you will meet a stray ne with no pas anywhere. It carries no negative meaning at all. It is a stylistic survival, optional in speech, expected in careful writing.
| French | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| avant qu'il ne parte | ah-vahn keel nuh PART | before he leaves (not "doesn't leave") |
| Ă moins qu'il ne pleuve | ah man keel nuh PLUHV | unless it rains |
| de peur qu'elle ne tombe | duh puhr kel nuh TOHNB | for fear she might fall |
| Je crains qu'il ne soit trop tard. | zhuh kran keel nuh swah troh TAR | I'm afraid it's too late. |
Contrast it with a real negation: J'ai peur qu'il ne vienne pas — "I'm afraid he won't come". The pas is what makes it negative. Without pas, J'ai peur qu'il ne vienne means "I'm afraid he will come".
As in Lesson 5, one subject means no subjunctive. Most of these conjunctions have a preposition twin for exactly that case.
| Two subjects (+ subjonctif) | One subject (+ infinitif) |
|---|---|
| avant que tu partes | avant de partir |
| pour que tu comprennes | pour comprendre |
| afin que nous réussissions | afin de réussir |
| sans que je le sache | sans le savoir |
| Ă condition que tu viennes | Ă condition de venir |
| de peur que je tombe | de peur de tomber |
Bien que has no infinitive twin, which is why it stays subjunctive even when the subjects match: Bien que je sois fatigué, je vais sortir.
In writing, bien que and afin que are everywhere; in speech people often swap them for même si + indicative (même si c'est cher) and pour que. The ne explétif is a reliable marker of careful French — dropping it in conversation is normal, dropping it in a DELF essay costs you.
Québécois writing follows the same rules exactly. In speech, faut que dominates as ever, and pourvu que is a common standalone wish: Pourvu qu'y fasse beau ! ("Let's hope the weather holds!") with the typical reduction of il to y. The ne explétif is even rarer in casual Québécois speech than in France, but identical in formal writing.
Write subjonctif or indicatif.
Same subject, so fill in the preposition twin.
1. Which conjunction takes the indicative?
2. What does J'ai peur qu'il ne vienne mean (no pas)?
3. Why does C'est le seul qui soit ouvert use the subjunctive?