Present Subjunctive (Le subjonctif présent) in French

The present subjunctive in French (le subjonctif présent) is generally used to express:

• wishes 
• requests 
• expressions of will

It is always used in conjunction with the bind word 'que'.  

The action of the 'que' clause occurs during or after the action of the main clause (the moment you are talking about did not happen yet or is happening) 

Formation of the subjunctive present in French

The subjunctive present forms of the regular and also the most irregular verbs are made up of:

• the Tribe of the 3rd Person Plural Present
• -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent​

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Regular forms of the subjunctive present 

The regular subjunctive forms in the singular and in the 3rd person plural correspond to the present forms of the verbs on -er. In the 1st and 2nd person plural they correspond to the imperfect.

• verbs that change in the stem vowel in the present tense retain this change in the subjunctive
• verbs with a -y- before present tense forms stressed on the ending retain this -y- in the subjunctive as well 
• the verbs en -ier add an 'i' on the 1st and 2nd plural person. The first 'i' belongs to the radical, the second is the ending. 

Irregular forms of the subjunctive present

There are only ten verbs that make the subjunctive present irregular:

• être (to be)
• aller (to go)
• avoir (to have)
• valoir (to cost)
• faire (to make)
• savoir (to know)
• vouloir (to want)
• falloir (must)
• pouvoir (can)
• pleuvoir (to rain)

Subjunctive present of être and avoir

The auxiliary verbs être and avoir differ from the remaining irregular verbs by their stem and the different endings: 

Other irregular forms of subjunctive present

 In other irregulars verbs, only the stem is irregular but the endings are regular.

• aller: que j'aille
• faire: que tu fasses
• pouvoir: qu'il puisse 
• falloir: qu'il faille 
• savoir: que nous sachions
• valoir: que tu vailles
• vouloir: qu'ils veuillent 
• pleuvoir: qu'il pleuve