How to Teach the French Present Subjunctive – A French Teacher’s Guide
The French subjunctive can seem like a lot at first, especially when students see all of the different irregular verbs. I find it much easier to teach when I separate when to use the subjunctive from how to form it.
I start by giving students a simple way to recognize when the subjunctive is needed. Then we work on the formation, beginning with a regular verb and gradually adding the stem-changing and irregular verbs.
The goal isn’t for students to memorize every possible subjunctive form immediately. I want them to understand the basic pattern and recognize the situations that call for the subjunctive.
French Present Subjunctive Reference Guide – Foldable Handout Book
Looking for resources to help you teach the French subjunctive? Scroll down to the section at the end of this post to see my ready-to-use resources for this topic.
I start by explaining what the subjunctive is
I introduce the subjunctive as a mood rather than simply another tense.
I explain that we use the subjunctive when what we’re saying includes an element of doubt, uncertainty, subjectivity, or something that isn’t presented as an established fact.
The present subjunctive refers to actions or states of being in the present or future.
I then give students a structure they can look for.
The subjunctive is generally used when a sentence contains a main clause and a dependent clause connected by que.
I write something like this on the board:
Main clause + QUE + dependent clause
Then I explain that the part following que is where students need to determine whether the subjunctive is required.
This is where I introduce WEIRDO.
I use WEIRDO to introduce when the subjunctive is used
WEIRDO is an acronym that gives students a way to remember the main situations that trigger the subjunctive.
W — Wishing / Wanting
E — Emotion
I — Impersonal expressions
R — Request / Require / Recommend
D — Doubt / Demand / Deny
O — Opinions
I don’t expect students to memorize a huge list of expressions at this point. I want them to understand the idea behind each category.
W — Wishing and wanting
I start with a very familiar expression:
Je voudrais que…
I point out that je voudrais means “I would like,” so it demonstrates wanting.
Then I show students the structure:
Je voudrais que __________.
The two parts are connected by que, and what comes after que requires the subjunctive.
I explain it this way:
Just because I want that something happens doesn’t mean you’re actually going to do it.
That idea of something being desired rather than presented as a fact helps students understand why the subjunctive is being used.
E — Emotion
Next I introduce expressions of emotion.
For example:
Je suis heureux/heureuse que…
I point out that je suis heureux/heureuse expresses an emotion.
Again, the two parts are connected by que:
Je suis heureux/heureuse que __________.
This is a good place to point out something important: there doesn’t always have to be an obvious element of doubt.
Students may ask, “But if I’m happy that something happened, what’s doubtful about it?”
I explain that the subjunctive is also used after expressions of emotion. The WEIRDO category is about recognizing the type of expression, not trying to force every example into the idea of literal doubt.
I — Impersonal expressions
Then I move to impersonal expressions:
Il est ______ que ______.
I explain that an expression beginning with il est can be impersonal.
For example, students might encounter expressions such as:
Il est important que…
The structure is:
Il est important que __________.
The first clause expresses an evaluation or judgment about the situation that follows.
I want students to begin recognizing this structure automatically:
Il est + expression + que + subjunctive
R — Requests, requirements, and recommendations
Next I introduce verbs and expressions that express a request, requirement, or recommendation.
I use the same structure:
Je _____ que _____.
I have students identify what the first part means and determine whether it expresses a recommendation, request, or requirement.
Again, I emphasize the relationship between the two clauses.
Je _____ and _____ are joined by que.
The fact that I request, recommend, or require something doesn’t mean that the action has actually happened.
D — Doubt, demands, and denial
This category gives students several very common expressions.
One of the most useful is:
Il faut que…
I explain that il faut means “it is necessary,” so it expresses a requirement or demand.
This is also a good opportunity to point out that students can sometimes avoid the subjunctive completely.
For example:
Il faut travailler.
But when they want to introduce another subject and another clause, they need:
Il faut que tu travailles.
I want students to recognize that the que structure changes what comes next.
O — Opinions
Finally, I introduce opinions.
One example is:
Je ne crois pas que…
I explain that je ne crois pas means “I don’t believe,” so it expresses an opinion.
Again:
Je ne crois pas que __________.
The important thing for students to notice is that the expression before que creates the environment in which the subjunctive is used.
I have students look for the structure before worrying about the verb
Once we’ve worked through WEIRDO, I have students stop and identify the structure of a sentence.
I ask them:
Do you see two clauses?
Are they connected by que?
Does the first clause express something from WEIRDO?
If the answer is yes, they know that the verb following que needs to be in the subjunctive.
I find this much more useful than simply telling students, “Here are 25 expressions that take the subjunctive. Memorize them.”
I want them to recognize the pattern.
Then I teach students how to form the present subjunctive
Once students understand when they need the subjunctive, I move on to formation.
I tell them that the good news is that most verbs use the same subjunctive endings.
The first step is finding the stem, or radical.
I teach students to take the -ent off the third-person plural form of the present tense.
For example:
ils écrivent
Take off -ent:
écriv-
That’s the stem.
Then we add the subjunctive endings.
I teach the regular subjunctive endings
The endings are:
je — e
tu — es
il/elle/on — e
nous — ions
vous — iez
ils/elles — ent
So with écrire:
que j’écrive
que tu écrives
qu’il écrive
que nous écrivions
que vous écriviez
qu’ils écrivent
I point out that students already know most of the work involved here. They know the present-tense ils form, and they’re simply using that form to find the stem.
I show students that the endings are regular
This is an important point for students who are overwhelmed by the word “subjunctive.”
I tell them that the endings themselves are regular.
The difficult part is often the stem.
Once students know the stem, they can add:
-e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent
I have students practice this with several regular verbs before introducing irregular stems.
Then I introduce stem-changing verbs
Once students are comfortable with the basic formation, I explain that some verbs have a different stem in the nous and vous forms.
I start with verbs they already know from the present tense.
The important idea is that the stem-changing pattern is the same one students see in the present indicative.
I use four verbs to illustrate the pattern.
Boire
Students start with:
ils boivent
Remove -ent:
boiv-
So we get:
que je boive
que tu boives
qu’il boive
que nous buvions
que vous buviez
qu’ils boivent
I point out that the je, tu, il/elle/on, and ils/elles forms use boiv-, while nous and vous use buv-.
Envoyer
For envoyer, students take the -ent off:
ils envoient = envoie-
Then:
que j’envoie
que tu envoies
qu’il envoie
que nous envoyions
que vous envoyiez
qu’ils envoient
Again, the nous and vous forms have a different stem.
Prendre
With prendre:
ils prennent = prenn-
Then:
que je prenne
que tu prennes
qu’il prenne
que nous prenions
que vous preniez
qu’ils prennent
The same pattern applies: the nous and vous forms use a different stem.
Venir
With venir:
ils viennent → vienn-
Then:
que je vienne
que tu viennes
qu’il vienne
que nous venions
que vous veniez
qu’ils viennent
At this point, students can see that the formation isn’t completely unpredictable. There are patterns they can recognize.
Then I introduce verbs with irregular stems
Once students understand how the regular formation works, I introduce some of the most common irregular verbs.
I group them according to how their stems behave rather than giving students one long list to memorize.
Verbs with one irregular stem
Some common verbs have one irregular stem but keep the regular subjunctive endings.
For example:
faire = fass-
que je fasse
que tu fasses
qu’il fasse
que nous fassions
que vous fassiez
qu’ils fassent
I also introduce:
pouvoir = puiss-
savoir = sach-
These are verbs students use frequently, so learning their subjunctive forms is worthwhile.
Then I show verbs with two stems
Some verbs have one stem for the singular forms and ils/elles, and another for nous and vous.
For example:
aller
j’aille
tu ailles
il aille
nous allions
vous alliez
ils aillent
The two stems are:
aill- / all-
The same pattern appears with vouloir:
veuill- / voul-
que je veuille
que tu veuilles
qu’il veuille
que nous voulions
que vous vouliez
qu’ils veuillent
I point out that these are not random changes. The nous and vous forms follow the second stem.
Finally, I teach the truly irregular forms
I leave avoir and être until students have already seen the other patterns.
These don’t follow the regular stem formation in the same way.
Avoir
que j’aie
que tu aies
qu’il ait
que nous ayons
que vous ayez
qu’ils aient
Être
que je sois
que tu sois
qu’il soit
que nous soyons
que vous soyez
qu’ils soient
These are worth learning separately because they are among the verbs students use all the time.
French Verb Conjugation Drill – 30 Irregular Verbs in the Present Subjunctive
I bring usage and formation back together
Once students have worked through the formation, I don’t want the subjunctive to become nothing more than a verb-conjugation exercise.
I go back to the original WEIRDO examples.
For example:
Il faut que tu __________.
Students first identify the trigger:
Il faut = requirement.
Then they see que.
Then they determine the subjunctive form of the verb.
This reinforces the process I want them to use:
Recognize the trigger → find que → identify the subject → form the subjunctive.
French Subjunctive – Il faut que – French Grammar Activity
I have students practice the two skills separately
I find it helpful to separate recognizing when the subjunctive is needed from forming the subjunctive at first.
Students can practice identifying WEIRDO expressions without having to conjugate anything.
Then they can practice forming the subjunctive with regular and irregular verbs.
Finally, we put the two skills together.
For example:
Je voudrais que tu __________.
Students identify wishing/wanting, then form the subjunctive.
Or:
Il faut que nous __________.
They identify the requirement and then conjugate the verb in the subjunctive.
This keeps students from trying to solve two completely different problems at the same time.
I keep coming back to the idea behind the subjunctive
The subjunctive can easily become a list of rules and irregular conjugations.
I try to bring students back to the bigger idea:
Something in the first clause creates a reason to use the subjunctive in the second clause.
The first clause may express a wish, emotion, impersonal expression, request, requirement, doubt, demand, denial, or opinion.
Then que connects the two clauses.
Once students can recognize that structure, the subjunctive becomes much easier to identify.
Practice the French Present Subjunctive!
If your students need more practice recognizing when to use the subjunctive and forming the most common present subjunctive verbs, these ready-to-use French resources can give you additional practice without having to create everything from scratch.
French Subjunctive Bundle | Le Subjonctif | Present & Past | Grammar, Activities
French Present Subjunctive Reference Guide – Foldable Handout Book
French Subjunctive – Il faut que – French Grammar Activity
French Subjunctive vs. Indicative Lesson – Advanced & AP French
French Subjunctive Speaking Activity – Le Subjonctif
French Subjunctive PowerPoint Jeopardy Game
French Subjunctive vs. Indicative – PowerPoint Jeopardy Game
French subjunctive sentence starters – Subjunctive sentence stems
