French Verbs – Present Tense Subjunctive of Faire, Pouvoir and Savoir

In this lesson we learn how to create the present tense of the subjunctive mood of faire, pouvoir and savoir.

How are irregular verbs formed in the present tense of the subjunctive mood in French?

The good news is that all verbs follow the same pattern of endings, regardless of whether they are regular or irregular. These endings are:

Person	Ending
je	-e
tu	-es
il	-e
elle	-e
nous	-ions
vous	-iez
ils	-ent
elles	-ent

However, there are some verbs which look quite different in the subjunctive. What makes them irregular is the stem to which the endings are added, so it is necessary to learn the stem for each verb.

What is the present tense of the subjunctive mood of faire (‘to do,’ ‘to make’)?

The stem for faire is fass-, onto which the subjunctive endings are added. It is therefore formed as follows:

French	English
que je fasse	that I may do, make
que tu fasses	that you may do, make
qu’il fasse	that he may do, make
qu’elle fasse	that she may do, make
que nous fassions	that we may do, make
que vous fassiez	that you may do, make
qu’ils fassent	that they may do, make
qu’elles fassent	that they may do, make

What is the present tense of the subjunctive mood of pouvoir (‘to be able to’)?

The stem for the endings is puiss–

French	English
que je puisse	that I may be able to
que tu puisses	that you may be able to
qu’il puisse	that he may be able to
qu’elle puisse	that she may be able to
que nous puissions	that we may be able to
que vous puissiez	that you may be able to
qu’ils puissent	that they may be able to
qu’elles puissent	that they may be able to

What is the present tense of the subjunctive mood of savoir (‘to know’)?

The stem for the present subjunctive is sach-

French	English
que je sache	that I may know
que tu saches	that you may know
qu’il sache	that he may know
qu’elle sache	that she may know
que nous sachions	that we may know
que vous sachiez	that you may know
qu’ils sachent	that they may know
qu’elles sachent	that they may know

Quick Quiz – Written Recall

Can you fill in the blanks to complete the verbs we learned?

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