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Subjunctive & Imperative

Forming the subjonctif présent

Intermediate

The subjonctif présent is formed from the ils/elles form of the present tense: drop -ent and add -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent. From ils parlent, you get que je parle, que tu parles, qu'il parle, que nous parlions, que vous parliez, qu'ils parlentnote that the nous and vous forms actually match the imparfait, not the present indicative.

Unlike the tenses covered so far, the subjunctive isn't really about time at allit's a mood, used inside a subordinate clause (almost always introduced by que) to express something other than a plain fact: a wish, a doubt, an emotion, or a necessity. Il faut que tu partes (you have to leave) uses the subjunctive (partes) precisely because il faut que is one of the standard triggers for it.