How French works
For first and second group verbs, take the ils form of the present indicative , remove -ent and add -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent:
| aimer | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| que j’ | aime | ||
| que tu | aimes | ||
| qu’il / elle | aime | ||
| que nous | aimions | ||
| que vous | aimiez | ||
| qu’ils / elles | aiment |
| finir | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| que j’ | finisse | ||
| que tu | finisses | ||
| qu’il / elle | finisse | ||
| que nous | finissions | ||
| que vous | finissez | ||
| qu’ils / elles | finissent |
This rule holds for semi-irregulars such as commencer or manger, but not for acheter, acquérir, appeler, espérer, jeter and lever which drop a consonant or change an accent in the nous and vous forms:
Ils faut que nous mangions à six heures
[and not *mangeions]
We must eat at six o'clock
Il faudra que nous achetions une nouvelle voiture
We will have to buy a new car
Il est bien possible que nous rejetions cette offre
It's very possible that we'll reject this offer
The third group , comprising irregular verbs, contains a number of verbs that follow the same pattern as the above -er and -ir verbs. These are mostly -ir verbs with a present participle ending in -ant rather than in -issant, and some -re and -oir verbs):
| sentir | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| que j’ | sente | ||
| que tu | sentes | ||
| qu’il / elle | sente | ||
| que nous | sentions | ||
| que vous | sentiez | ||
| qu’ils / elles | sentent |
| vendre | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| que j’ | vende | ||
| que tu | vendes | ||
| qu’il / elle | vende | ||
| que nous | vendions | ||
| que vous | vendiez | ||
| qu’ils / elles | vendent |
| s’asseoir | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| que j’ | m’asseye | ||
| que tu | t’asseyes | ||
| qu’il / elle | s’asseye | ||
| que nous | nous asseyions | ||
| que vous | vous asseyiez | ||
| qu’ils / elles | s’ asseyent |
Other third group verbs are irregular in so far as the stem changes in the first and second persons plural, in accordance with the present tense stem :
| infinitive | paradigm |
|---|---|
| boire | boive, boives, boive, buvions, buviez, boivent |
| croire | croie, croies, croie, croyions, croyiez, croient |
| devoir | doive, doives, doive, devions, deviez, doivent |
| mourir | meure, meures, meure, mourions, mouriez, meurent |
| prendre | prenne, prennes, prenne, prenions, preniez, prennent |
| recevoir | reçoive, reçoives, reçoive, recevions, receviez, reçoivent |
| tenir | tienne, tiennes, tienne, tenions, teniez, tiennent |
| venir | vienne, viennes, vienne, venions, veniez, viennent |
| voir | voie, voies, voie, voyions, voyiez, voient |
This is in addition to verbs such as acquérir, appeler, espérer, jeter and lever, which drop a consonant or change an accent in the nous and vous forms. The following verbs have wholly irregular forms:
| infinitive | paradigm |
|---|---|
| aller | aille, ailles, aille, allions, alliez, aillent |
| avoir | aie, aies, ait, ayons, ayez, aient |
| être | sois, sois, soit, soyons, soyez, soient |
| faire | fasse, fasses, fasse, fassions, fassiez, fassent |
| falloir | il faille |
| pouvoir | puisse, puisses, puisse, puissions, puissiez, puissent |
| savoir | sache, saches, sache, sachions, sachiez, sachent |
| valoir | vaille, vailles, vaille, vaillions, vailliez, vaillent |
| vouloir | veuille, veuilles, veuille, voulions, vouliez, veuillent |
The perfect subjunctive is formed by taking the perfect and putting the auxiliary verb into the subjunctive.
Je suis déçu qu'il n'ait pas pu venir
I'm disappointed he was unable to come
The imperfect subjunctive, which is only used in extremely formal or literary contexts, is formed by removing the last letter of the first person singular of the past historic and adding the endings -sse, -sses, -^t, -ssions, -ssiez, -ssent. Hence:
Il fallait absolument que je vous donnasse ces conseils
It was absolutely essential that I gave you that advice
Je craignais que vous ne vinssiez pas
I was afraid that you were not coming
Il eut fallu qu'il en parlât avec son avocat
It would have been necessary that he spoke about it with his solicitor