French Subjunctive Irregular Conjugations

Conjugating irregular verbs and stem-changing verbs into the subjunctive

Updated on January 27, 2019

While not as difficult as using the French subjunctive, conjugating irregular and stem-changing verbs into the subjunctive can be a little tricky.

Stem-changing verbs and most irregular verbs follow the same pattern as regular verbs for the singular conjugations (je, tu, il/elle/on) as well as the third person plural (ils/elles): the subjunctive stem is derived from the present tense conjugation of ils.

		boire	envoyer	prendre	venir
present tense:	ils	boivent	envoient	prennent	viennent
	stem	boiv-	envoi-	prenn-	vienn-

subjunctive endings:		boire	envoyer	prendre	venir
... que je	-e	boive	envoie	prenne	vienne
... que tu	-es	boives	envoies	prennes	viennes
... qu'il/elle/on	-e	boive	envoie	prenne	vienne
... qu'ils/elles	-ent	boivent	envoient	prennent	viennent

However, the nous and vous forms of the subjunctive find their stems in the present tense conjugation of nous:

present tense:	nous	buvons	envoyons	prenons	venons
	stem	buv-	envoy-	pren-	ven-
subjunctive endings :
... que nous	-ions	buvions	envoyions	prenions	venions
... que vous	-iez	buviez	envoyiez	preniez	veniez

This two-stem subjunctive pattern applies to all stem-changing verbs as well as all but seven irregular verbs.

Five verbs have irregular subjunctive stems but take the same endings as above:

	One stem			Two stems*
	faire	pouvoir	savoir	aller	vouloir
stem(s)	fass-	puiss-	sach-	aill- / all-	veuill- / voul-
... que je (j')	fasse	puisse	sache	aille	veuille
... que tu	fasses	puisses	saches	ailles	veuilles
... qu'il/elle/on	fasse	puisse	sache	aille	veuille
... que nous	fassions	puissions	sachions	allions	voulions
... que vous	fassiez	puissiez	sachiez	alliez	vouliez
... qu'ils/elles	fassent	puissent	sachent	aillent	veuillent

*These two verbs have different stems for je/tu/il/ils and nous/vous.

And finally, two verbs have irregular stems as well irregular endings:

	avoir	être
... que je (j')	aie	sois
... que tu	aies	sois
... qu'il/elle/on	ait	soit
... que nous	ayons	soyons
... que vous	ayez	soyez
... qu'ils/elles	aient	soient

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Team, ThoughtCo. "French Subjunctive Irregular Conjugations." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/french-subjunctive-irregular-conjugations-1368956. Team, ThoughtCo. (2023, April 5). French Subjunctive Irregular Conjugations. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/french-subjunctive-irregular-conjugations-1368956 Team, ThoughtCo. "French Subjunctive Irregular Conjugations." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/french-subjunctive-irregular-conjugations-1368956 (accessed May 31, 2023).