Present Tense Subjunctive of Boire, Devoir and Vouloir
In this lesson we learn how to create the present tense of the subjunctive mood of boire, devoir and vouloir.
Vowel changes in the nous and vous forms
The next group of verbs have two irregular stems, one for the nous and vous forms; and another stem for the other forms of the verb.
Let’s see how this works for the verb boire, ‘to drink.’
The stems for the present tense subjunctive of boire are boiv– and buv–. It is formed as follows:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| que je boive | that I may drink |
| que tu boives | that you may drink |
| qu’il boive | that he may drink |
| qu’elle boive | that she may drink |
| que nous buvions | that we may drink |
| que vous buviez | that you may drink |
| qu’ils boivent | that they may drink |
| qu’elles boivent | that they may drink |
What is the present tense subjunctive mood of devoir (‘to have to’)?
The forms for devoir are doiv- and dev-.
| French | English |
|---|---|
| que je doive | that I may have to |
| que tu doives | that you may have to |
| qu’il doive | that he may have to |
| qu’elle doive | that she may have to |
| que nous devions | that we may have to |
| que vous deviez | that you may have to |
| qu’ils doivent | that they may have to |
| qu’elles doivent | that they may have to |
What is the present tense subjunctive mood of vouloir (‘to want to’)?
The stem forms for vouloir are veuill- and voul- as follows:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| que je veuille | that I may want, wish |
| que tu veuilles | that you may want, wish |
| qu’il veuille | that he may want, wish |
| qu’elle veuille | that she may want, wish |
| que nous voulions | that we may want, wish |
| que vous vouliez | that you may want, wish |
| qu’ils veuillent | that they may want, wish |
| qu’elles veuillent | that they may want, wish |