The following is according to my understanding.<\/p>\n\n
I’m not Francophone, but grew up in Canada; hence, I’ve connection with French. Moreover, my wife and sons are all bilingual. Over the years I’ve studied aspects of French, now and then.<\/p>\n
\nThe subjunctive is a verb form. It’s used not to indicate something is happening or true; the form used in that case is the indicative. Rather, the subjunctive is used to express an idea associated with a feeling: the speaker doubts it’s true, or wishes it’s true, for instance. In such a case one would use the subjunctive, or subjonctif, in French.<\/p>\n
\nFor example, the indicative:<\/p>\n
Il ne conduit pas. (He isn’t driving.)<\/p>\n
The subjunctive<\/span>:<\/p>\n Je doute qu’il conduise<\/span>. (I doubt he’s driving.)<\/p>\n \nTo an anglophone, the way to form the subjunctive might seem unexpected. With regular -er and -re verbs, for instance, its stem is the ils form minus ent, then its endings are -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, and -ent. Therefore, for regular verbs, it can look the same as the indicative in many cases.<\/p>\n \nHowever, for irregular verbs, the stem itself is often quite different from the indicative. The present subjunctive stem for faire (to make, to do), for instance, is fass-, while for pouvoir it’s puiss-. Therefore, reading French, one can stumble onto some surprising-looking words because of the present subjunctive.<\/p>\n \nYet, my understanding is that the present subjunctive is used a lot in French, so one might just as well get used to it:)<\/p>\n \nSource:<\/p>\n Kenney, M., Burville, V., Hickox, B., Hill, J., Crawford, P. (1977). Passeport Français 8: Bonne Chance!<\/em> D.C. Heath Canada Ltd.<\/p>\nJack of Oracle Tutoring by Jack and Diane,<\/a> Campbell River, BC.\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Self-tutoring about French: the tutor brings up the subjunctive. The following is according to my understanding. I’m not Francophone, but grew up in Canada; hence, I’ve connection with French. Moreover, my wife and sons are all bilingual. Over the years …<\/p>\n