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?
