[0:00]Il faut que je fasse pour que tu saches, pour qu'il puisse structurer, ce peur qu'il soit, au rôle d'exemple. Le subjonctif. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the French subjunctive, the holy grail of French grammar and possibly the most overcomplicated thing in the world. But do not worry, today we're clearing it all up. What is the French subjunctive? How do you use it and when do you use it? Sound interesting, then keep on watching.
[0:30]So first things first, if you're a French beginner, stop watching this video. Honestly, really, seriously, genuinely, please stop. Even French people make mistakes with the French subjunctive. So, uh.
[0:45]Écoute, euh c'est un peu bizarre, mais j'ai une question pour toi, c'est pour une vidéo. Si je dis après que en français, ça prend le subjonctif ou pas? Ah putain mais j'ai plus structuré. Mais c'est pour. So if you're not able to have at least a basic conversation in French, skip to the end of this video where I'll teach you how to avoid using the subjunctive. But for the rest of you, let's get started. What is the subjunctive? Well at school, the subjunctive was always described to me as a mood. And for a long time, I found that very confusing, until one day a teacher showed me two sentences. Je ne pense pas qu'il vient. And je ne pense pas qu'il vienne which in English both mean I don't think he will come. So what's the difference? Je ne pense pas qu'il vient would be like saying I don't think he's coming. Whereas je ne pense pas qu'il vienne, the subjunctive, I don't think he's coming. So call it a mood, a tense or whatever you want, but ultimately, these two sentences demonstrate the essence of the subjunctive. The first sentence affirms that I do not think he's coming. Whereas the subjunctive sentence expresses my doubt, my mood or my emotion as to whether he will come. I'm about 12 hours into editing the video and I've just realized that the example sentence I've used I don't think he will come could be understood two ways. It's too late now. So just So guess what? If you understood what I just explained, you've understood the essence of the subjunctive. Woo! Now all we need to do is learn the rules behind it. So how do we use the subjunctive? Well if you've studied the exciting world of French verbs before, you'll know that there are four groups: IR, ER, RE, and the irregulars. And when you conjugate the first three, it's fairly simple. You just chop off the end of the word and swap it for the ending you need. And then you have irregular verbs like être: Je suis, tu es, nous sommes. Thanks, France. Well the good news is that for the subjunctive, groups one, two and three follow a fairly similar pattern. Manger: Je mange, tu manges, on mange, nous mangions, vous mangiez, ils mangent. Sortir: Je sors, tu sortes, on sorte, nous sortions, vous sortiez, ils sortent. Vendre: Je vende, tu vendes, on vende, nous vendions, vous vendiez, ils vendent. And last but not least, être: Je sois, tu sois, on soit, nous soyons, vous soyez, ils soient. Thanks, France. Now this might sound complicated, but once you've memorized all the conjugations, it's no different than any other tense. So check out the link below for the full list of conjugations.
[3:31]When exactly do you need to use the subjunctive? This is quite simply a list of phrases that always use the subjunctive. Things like il faut que, pour que, bien que. And this is really simple because every time you hear that phrase, you need to use the subjunctive. So once again, link in the description for the full list of expressions. And make sure you remember them because they are the most important of the bunch, and I'll explain why later. So often, if the situation involves emotion, you're going to need the subjunctive. Je suis content que, je suis triste que, je suis désolé que. If you're also trying to express how il est évident, nécessaire, rare, bizarre, ou normal que you're also going to need the subjunctive. But why? Because in this case your opinion could be considered your emotion towards something. When in doubt, get your subjunctive out. If ever there is any element of uncertainty in the statement you are making, il est probable que, je doute que, le fait que, you're going to need the subjunctive. So a good example of the mindset that you need for the doubting subjunctive would be je cherche quelqu'un qui puisse m'aider avec... I'm looking for somebody that can help me with... Now in English, we don't really make the distinction, but if you think about it, you don't know if the person exists, you don't know if you're going to find that person, so essentially there's a lot of doubt surrounding that statement. So just to clear something up, why did I say that the first group was the most important? Well as we established, the French also make mistakes when talking about the subjunctive. après que j'ai après après que je So this means that us as foreigners can also afford to do the same, but not with every type of sentence. So if I say il faut que je fasse. No, it is important to know. Whereas if I say je cherche quelqu'un qui peut m'aider. Yeah, that's fine. Because the verbs chercher or aider don't necessarily have to have the subjunctive come after them. Whereas il faut que, pour que, quoi que is always followed by a subjunctive, so it's going to sound very weird if you make a mistake. But if you hate the subjunctive, don't understand it and don't want to understand it, then pay attention to this next part. So there's no doubt that you need to recognize the French subjunctive when other people use it. However, there are lots of little tricks that you can use to avoid using it yourself. So for example, il faut que je fasse, je dois faire. Je ne suis pas sûr que, je ne sais pas si. Afin que je puisse, afin de pouvoir. And finally, just remember that speaking fluently isn't about using the most beautiful phrases in the world. It's about getting your point across in an effective manner. And ultimately, if you say il faut que tu fais, the French person in front of you is still going to understand what you're saying. Well, I hope you enjoyed the first episode of French Grammar Made Fun, and if there's a specific topic that you want me to cover, let me know in the comments. Et abonne-toi, sinon je vais créer une autre conjugaison, et là, on se met tous dans la merde. Après que, après que je suis ah ouais, c'est chaud, après que je suis. Tu es en train de chercher sur Google? Non, non, non, non.
