French grammar · Advanced
Irregular Subjunctive Conjugations in French: The Ten Verbs Worth Memorising
Ten French verbs have a present subjunctive that cannot be derived from the indicative: être, avoir, aller, faire, pouvoir, savoir, vouloir, valoir, falloir, and pleuvoir. Because they are also among the most frequent verbs in the language, these ten forms account for most of the subjunctives you will ever hear.
Il faut que tu sois là et que tu fasses attention.
You need to be there and to pay attention.
What it is
The stem rule for the subjunctive — take the ils form, drop -ent — works for almost every verb, including many that look irregular elsewhere. What is left is a short list of verbs whose subjunctive stem comes from somewhere else entirely. Learning those ten paradigms is a better use of an afternoon than almost anything else in French grammar.
que je sois, que j'aie, que j'aille, que je fasse, que je puisse, que je sache.
How to spot it
The tell-tale shapes are soi-, ai-, aill-, fass-, puiss-, sach-, veuill-, vaill-, faill-, and pleuv-. None of them exists in the indicative, so any of them identifies a subjunctive immediately.
- Je doute qu'il puisse venir. — I doubt he can come.
- Bien qu'elle sache la vérité, elle se tait. — Although she knows the truth, she says nothing.
- Il faut que j'aille à la banque. — I have to go to the bank.
- Il est possible qu'il faille attendre. — It's possible we'll have to wait.
Aille from aller and ait from avoir sound very similar in fast speech, so their contexts matter: il faut que j'aille takes a destination, il faut que j'aie takes an object.
Subjunctive Irregular Conjugations Quick Reference
The ten irregular subjunctive stems
| Verb | Stem | que je / qu'il | que nous |
|---|---|---|---|
| être | soi- / soy- | sois, soit | soyons |
| avoir | ai- / ay- | aie, ait | ayons |
| aller | aill- / all- | aille, aille | allions |
| faire | fass- | fasse, fasse | fassions |
| pouvoir | puiss- | puisse, puisse | puissions |
| savoir | sach- | sache, sache | sachions |
| vouloir | veuill- / voul- | veuille, veuille | voulions |
| valoir | vaill- / val- | vaille, vaille | valions |
Common Subjunctive Irregular Conjugations Examples in French
The irregular subjunctives in the sentences where they actually occur:
Être and Avoir
- Il faut que tu sois patient.
- You have to be patient.
- Je veux qu'ils soient prévenus.
- I want them to be warned.
- Il est important que nous ayons une réponse.
- It's important that we get an answer.
- Je ne crois pas qu'elle ait compris.
- I don't think she understood.
Because these two are also the auxiliaries, their subjunctive forms build every past subjunctive in the language.
Aller and Faire
- Il faut que j'aille chez le dentiste.
- I have to go to the dentist.
- Il vaut mieux que nous allions ensemble.
- It's better if we go together.
- Je veux que tu fasses un effort.
- I want you to make an effort.
- Bien qu'il fasse froid, on sort.
- Although it's cold, we're going out.
Bien qu'il fasse froid is one of the most frequent subjunctive phrases in spoken French, thanks to the weather.
Pouvoir, Savoir, and Vouloir
- Je doute qu'il puisse nous aider.
- I doubt he can help us.
- Il faut que tu saches la vérité.
- You need to know the truth.
- Je ne pense pas qu'elle veuille en parler.
- I don't think she wants to talk about it.
- Bien que nous puissions refuser, nous accepterons.
- Although we could refuse, we'll accept.
Vouloir has veuille in the singular but a regular voulions and vouliez, following the two-stem pattern.
The Impersonal Verbs
- Il est possible qu'il faille tout recommencer.
- We may have to start all over again.
- Je crains qu'il ne pleuve demain.
- I'm afraid it'll rain tomorrow.
- Bien que ça vaille cher, il l'a acheté.
- Although it's expensive, he bought it.
Falloir and pleuvoir exist only in the third person singular, so they have one subjunctive form each: faille and pleuve.
How the Irregular Subjunctives Behave
Even the irregular verbs are systematic. They fall into three groups according to how many stems they use.
One Stem Throughout: Faire, Pouvoir, Savoir
These three use a single unpredictable stem for all six persons: fass-, puiss-, sach-. Once you have the stem, the ordinary endings finish the job with no further changes.
Il faut que vous sachiez ce qui s'est passé.
You need to know what happened.
One stem, standard endings.
Two Stems: Aller, Vouloir, Valoir
These behave like boot verbs: an irregular stem in the singular and third person plural, and a regular one built on the infinitive for nous and vous. Aille but allions, veuille but voulions.
Il faut que j'aille au marché et que nous allions ensemble.
I have to go to the market and we should go together.
Irregular in the singular, regular in nous and vous.
Être and Avoir Break the Endings Too
These are the only two verbs whose subjunctive endings differ from the standard set. Être has sois, sois, soit, soyons, soyez, soient; avoir has aie, aies, ait, ayons, ayez, aient. Neither has the expected -e in the first person.
Il faut que tu sois là et que tu aies tes papiers.
You need to be there and to have your papers.
sois and aie, not soie and aye.
The Impersonals Have One Form Each
Falloir gives qu'il faille and pleuvoir gives qu'il pleuve. There is no first person and no plural, because there is no subject other than the impersonal il.
Je ne crois pas qu'il faille s'inquiéter.
I don't think there's any need to worry.
faille and pleuve, third person only.
The Past Subjunctive Inherits Everything
Since the past subjunctive is aie or sois plus a participle, mastering those two irregular paradigms gives you the compound subjunctive of every verb in French at no extra cost.
Je suis content que vous soyez venus et que vous ayez apprécié.
I'm glad you came and that you enjoyed it.
aie and sois unlock every past subjunctive.
Common Mistakes with Subjunctive Irregular Conjugations
Incorrect: Il faut que je vais à la poste. — I have to go to the post office.
Correct: Il faut que j'aille à la poste. — I have to go to the post office.
Aller has the irregular subjunctive stem aill-. Vais is the present indicative and cannot follow il faut que.
Incorrect: Je ne pense pas qu'il peut venir. — I don't think he can come.
Correct: Je ne pense pas qu'il puisse venir. — I don't think he can come.
Penser in the negative triggers the subjunctive, and pouvoir has the unpredictable stem puiss-. Peut belongs to the indicative.
Incorrect: Il faut que tu soies prêt. — You have to be ready.
Correct: Il faut que tu sois prêt. — You have to be ready.
Être is one of the two verbs whose subjunctive endings are irregular. The tu form is sois, identical to the je form, with no -es.
Incorrect: Bien qu'il faut partir, je reste. — Although we have to leave, I'm staying.
Correct: Bien qu'il faille partir, je reste. — Although we have to leave, I'm staying.
Bien que takes the subjunctive, and falloir has its own subjunctive form, faille. Il faut is the indicative and cannot appear after a subjunctive trigger.
The Irregular Paradigms in Full
Four tables. Learn the first two and you will handle the large majority of subjunctives in real French.
The Four Essentials
Être and avoir have irregular endings as well as irregular stems; aller and faire keep the standard endings.
| Pronoun | être | avoir | aller | faire |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| que je / j' | sois | aie | aille | fasse |
| que tu | sois | aies | ailles | fasses |
| qu'il / elle / on | soit | ait | aille | fasse |
| que nous | soyons | ayons | allions | fassions |
| que vous | soyez | ayez | alliez | fassiez |
| qu'ils / elles | soient | aient | aillent | fassent |
Soyons, soyez, ayons, and ayez double as the imperative forms of these two verbs.
The Modal Verbs
Pouvoir and savoir use one stem; vouloir and devoir use two.
| Pronoun | pouvoir | savoir | vouloir | devoir |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| que je | puisse | sache | veuille | doive |
| que tu | puisses | saches | veuilles | doives |
| qu'il / elle / on | puisse | sache | veuille | doive |
| que nous | puissions | sachions | voulions | devions |
| que vous | puissiez | sachiez | vouliez | deviez |
| qu'ils / elles | puissent | sachent | veuillent | doivent |
Devoir is not on the irregular list: doive comes straight from ils doivent, so it follows the ordinary stem rule.
The Impersonal Verbs
A dash marks a form that does not exist. Valoir has a full paradigm, but in practice appears mostly as il vaut mieux.
| Pronoun | falloir | pleuvoir | valoir |
|---|---|---|---|
| que je | — | — | vaille |
| que tu | — | — | vailles |
| qu'il / elle / on | faille | pleuve | vaille |
| que nous | — | — | valions |
| que vous | — | — | valiez |
| qu'ils / elles | — | — | vaillent |
Qu'il faille is worth learning as a unit: je ne pense pas qu'il faille insister.
Two-Stem Verbs That Follow the Rule
These are often listed as irregular, but every form comes from the stem rule applied twice: once to ils and once to nous.
| Pronoun | prendre | venir | recevoir | mourir |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| que je | prenne | vienne | reçoive | meure |
| que tu | prennes | viennes | reçoives | meures |
| qu'il / elle / on | prenne | vienne | reçoive | meure |
| que nous | prenions | venions | recevions | mourions |
| que vous | preniez | veniez | receviez | mouriez |
| qu'ils / elles | prennent | viennent | reçoivent | meurent |
Recevoir keeps its cedilla wherever the c is followed by o: reçoive but recevions.
Subjunctives That Have Escaped Their Clauses
Several irregular subjunctives survive in fixed expressions where there is no que and no trigger at all. They are relics of an older use of the mood for wishes and orders.
Wishes and exclamations
A bare subjunctive at the head of a sentence expresses a wish. These are frozen phrases rather than a productive pattern.
- Vive la République !
- Long live the Republic.
- Ainsi soit-il.
- So be it. / Amen.
- Advienne que pourra.
- Come what may.
- Dieu vous garde.
- God keep you.
Vive is a subjunctive of vivre, which is why it does not agree: vive les vacances is standard.
Concessive formulas
A doubled subjunctive expresses indifference to the outcome, in the pattern coûte que coûte.
- Coûte que coûte, nous finirons.
- Whatever it costs, we'll finish.
- Vaille que vaille, il continue.
- Somehow or other, he keeps going.
- Soit dit entre nous, ça m'étonnerait.
- Between ourselves, I'd be surprised.
Soit also survives as a connector meaning either or that is: soit l'un, soit l'autre.
Third person orders with que
Since the imperative has no third person, French uses que plus the subjunctive to give an order about someone absent. Irregular verbs are common here.
- Qu'il fasse ce qu'il veut.
- Let him do as he likes.
- Qu'ils sachent que nous refusons.
- Let them know that we refuse.
- Qu'elle aille se coucher.
- Let her go to bed.
- Que personne ne bouge.
- Nobody move.
This is a real, productive construction, unlike the fossilised phrases above.
Subjunctive Irregular Conjugations FAQs
- Which French verbs are irregular in the subjunctive?
- Ten: être, avoir, aller, faire, pouvoir, savoir, vouloir, valoir, falloir, and pleuvoir. Everything else, including verbs that look irregular in the present, follows the rule of taking the ils form and dropping -ent.
- What is the subjunctive of être and avoir?
- Être gives que je sois, que tu sois, qu'il soit, que nous soyons, que vous soyez, qu'ils soient. Avoir gives que j'aie, que tu aies, qu'il ait, que nous ayons, que vous ayez, qu'ils aient. These two also have irregular endings, not just irregular stems.
- Why is it que j'aille and not que je vaille?
- Aille comes from aller and vaille from valoir; they are unrelated verbs that happen to look alike. Il faut que j'aille means I have to go, whereas il faut que ça vaille la peine means it has to be worth it.
- Do the irregular verbs also have irregular nous forms?
- Some do and some do not. Faire, pouvoir, and savoir keep the same stem throughout: fassions, puissions, sachions. Aller, vouloir, and valoir revert to a regular stem in the nous and vous forms: allions, voulions, valions.
- What does vive mean in vive la France?
- It is the present subjunctive of vivre, used on its own to express a wish, and it is one of a small group of fossilised subjunctives that includes ainsi soit-il and advienne que pourra. It does not change for a plural noun: vive les vacances.