In this section:

• Conjunctions that take the subjunctive

• Past subjunctive

• Ways to avoid the subjunctive

Conjunctions that take the subjunctive

When the following conjunctions introduce a subordinate clause with a new subject, they always trigger the subjunctive. Remember that the subjects of the subordinate clause and of the main clause are different. In the examples below, the verb in the subjunctive is underlined.

Conjunctions expressing fear: de crainte que, de peur que (for fear that, lest)

* ne is optional. It is sometimes added to certain subjunctive clauses for stylistic purposes, in these cases it does not negate the verb.

Conjunctions expressing obstacles or restrictions: bien que, quoique (although), à moins que (unless)

Conjunctions expressing a condition: à condition que (on the condition that),
pourvu que (provided that), sans que (without)

Conjoining conjunctions which have the same subject
The subjunctive is required after a few conjunctions even when the subject stays the same from the main clause to the dependent clause. These four conjunctions are bien que, quoique, pourvu que, jusqu’à ce que.

Past subjunctive

formation
The past subjunctive resembles the passé composé in that it is formed with the present subjunctive of the appropriate auxiliary verb (avoir or être) and the past participle of the main verb.

uses
The past subjunctive is normally used in dependent clauses that describe an action which precedes the action of the main clause. The past subjunctive is introduced by the same kinds of clauses that introduce the present subjunctive (See subjunctive of obligation, doubt, will, emotion, desire and conjunctions that take the subjunctive). Note the past tense meaning of the event encoded in the past subjunctive. The present subjunctive, on the other hand, indicates a simultaneous action or a future action. Compare these sentences (present subjunctive in orange, past subjunctive in blue):

Note that the tense of the verb in the main clause in French does not predict the tense of the subjunctive in the dependent clause. The choice between the present and past subjunctives depends on the chronological relationship between the two clauses.

Read the following dialogue:

Ways to avoid the subjunctive

Although the subjunctive is commonly used in French, many alternative turns of phrase are often used to avoid the subjunctive.

impersonal expressions with infinitive clauses
Many impersonal expressions which take the subjunctive can be modified and completed with infinitive clauses instead. Note that the infinitive construction eliminates the subject of the original dependent clause.

conjunction replaced by preposition + infinitive
Some conjunctions which are normally followed by the subjunctive have corresponding prepositions, so the sentence can often be rephrased using one subject, with an infinitive following the preposition.

Using the infinitive involves a restatement of the content so there is only one grammatical subject in the sentence. For example:

conjunction replaced by preposition + object
Some conjunctions, like jusqu’à ce que and bien que, which introduce the subjunctive, may be restated using prepositions followed by a noun:

other structural transformations
The following pairs of sentences will give you still more ways to avoid the subjunctive.