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french subjunctive
How to get one's brain round the french subjunctive. Help please!
4 Comments
The subjunctive is used mostly with verbs or adverbs expressing desire, doubt, order, or occurrence. Almost always preceded by que (that).
Similar uses to English:
Demand, command, encourage to do something Il faut qu’elle comprenne cela ("t is necessary that she understand that)
Expressing a desire to do the act denoted by the root verb eg Vive le roi!
Subordinate clauses: for example with although and before, the subjunctive is used
Bien que ce soit ton anniversaire (Although/even though it is your birthday)
Avant que je m’en aille (Before I go away)
Imperfect subjunctive - used in older, formal, or literary writing, replaces the present subjunctive in a subordinate clause when the main clause is in a past tense.
Thank you Xamaranth for your concise explanation, but it still does not make it any easier to learn as the other verb tenses but I will persevere.
There are a few guidelines, but exceptions are easily found and overall it's not very logical at all. Here are some links I used for help.
https://www.talkinfrench.com/french-subjunctive-phrases/ https://www.frenchtoday.com/blog/understanding-french-subjunctive
