The subjunctive (French)

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The Subjunctive Mood/ Le Sujonctif Passé et Présent

The subjunctive tense is widely used in written and spoken French. It's use will always be preceded by the word 'que' (or qu'il, qu'elle, qu'on, etc.). For regular verbs, it is formed by taking the third person plural form of the verb in the present tense, dropping the -ent, and adding the following endings: -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, ent. Eg "Nous parlions - we speak";"elle finisse - she finishes".

Some irregular verbs have one irregular verb stem (eg Savoir/sach-, Pouvoir/puiss-, Faire/fasse-). Other verbs have two irregualr stems (prendre, aller and venir, for example), with 1st and 2nd person singular, along with both 3rd persons taking one(usually 3rd plural) and 1st and 2nd plural taking another(usually infinitive stem). Two irregular verbs that must be known:
Être - sois, sois, soit, soyons, soyez, soient
Avoir - aie, aies, ait, ayons, ayez, aient

Use

1. The subjunctive deals with volition, desires, doubts, beliefs, possibilities and emotions, rather than hard facts ie would should could.
2. Never as the main clause, always as a dependent clause, introduced by que. Eg: Je veux que vous parliez.
3. Almost always present is a change of verbal person. See example in (2), above.
4. It is always used with impersonal expressions, if a person is introduced after the 'que'. Eg: Il faut que je sois.
5. It is used when the main clause contains a superlative or an adjective expressing uniqueness. It makes opinions less dogmatic. It is not used for certainties, but only opinions.
6. It is used when the independent clause indicates qualities/qualifications that something/someone must have. Eg: Ils cherchent quelqu'un qui soit français.

Finally, it is used with the following common expressions, etc. :
1. Volition: Vouloir que, désirer que, préferer que, souhaiter que, exiger que, demander que. NOTE: Espérer que (to hope that) does NOT take the subjunctive.
2. Emotion: Être (heureux/content/désolé/triste/furieux/supris/étonné) que, avoir peur que.
3. Doubt: Ne pas penser que, ne pas croire que, douter que.
4. Impersonal verbs: Il est nécessaire que, il est important que, il faut que, il vaut mieux que, il est préférable que, il est stupide que, il est bon que, il est juste que, il est bizzare que.
5. Conjunctions: Bien que, quoique, jusqu'à ce que, pour que, afin que, pourvu que, a moins que, avant que.

Past Tense

Once the present tense subjunctive is learned, the past tense is quite easy. It is formed under the same rules which govern the Passé Composé, except for one salient detail: Avoir and Être are in the subjunctive.