A Fun Explanation of the French Subjunctive French Grammar Made Fun

le subjonctif Yes, ladies and gentlemen the French subjunctive the holy grail of French grammar and possibly the most over complicated 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 So first thing is first if you're French beginner stop watching this video honestly, really, seriously, genuinely, please Stop even French people make mistakes with the French subjunctive you okay? all good and you? listen bit of weird one, but have question for you... it's for video okay... if say "après que" (after) does that mean need to use the subjunctive in French? for (bleeps) sake you are taking the piss haven't got clue So if you're not able to have at least 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 mood and for long time found that very confusing until one day teacher showed me two sentences which in English both mean don't think he will come So what's the difference? je ne pense pas qu'il vient would be like saying... don't think he's coming whereas, je ne pense pas qu'il vienne (subjunctive) don't THINK he is coming So call it mood tense or whatever you want but ultimately these two sentences demonstrate the essence of the subjunctive the first sentence affirms that do not think he's coming Whereas the subjunctive sentence expresses my doubts my mood or my emotion, as to whether he will come So I'm about 12 hours into editing the video and I've just realized that the example sentence I've used don't think he will come could be understood two ways It's too late now... So guess what? if you understood what just explained you've understood the essence of the subjunctive 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 will know that there are 4 groups 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 etre thanks France Well, the good news is that for the subjunctive groups 1, 2 and 3 follow fairly similar pattern and as per usual... Thanks France Now this might sound complicated but once you've memorized all the conjugations it's no different to any other tense So check out the link below for the full list of conjugations When exactly do you need to use the subjunctive This is quite simply list of phrases that always use the subjunctive things like... 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 situation involves in emotion you're going to need the subjunctive i'm happy that i'm sad that I'm sorry that if you are also trying to express how it is obvious necessary rare weird or normal you're also gonna need the subjunctive? But why? because in this case your opinion could be considered your emotion toward something When in doubt get your subjunctive out if ever there is any element of uncertainty in the statement you are making it is likely doubt that the fact that you are going to need the subjunctive So good example of the mindset that you need for the doubting subjunctive would be... 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 lot of doubt surrounding that statement So just to clear something up why did say that the first group was the most important? Well as we established the French also make mistakes when talking about the subjunctive desperately trying to work out if après que takes the subjunctive... So this means that us as foreigners can also afford to do the same but not with every type of sentence so if say il faut que je "fais ça" no, it's il faut que je "fasse" ça Whereas if say je cherche quelqu'un qui peut m'aider yeh, that's okay Because the verbs don't necessarily have to have the subjunctive come after them Whereas is always followed by subjunctive So it's going to sound very weird if you make mistake But if you hate the subjunctive, don't understand it and don't want to understand it pay attention to this next part 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 yourself So for example... 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, hope you enjoyed the first episode of French grammar made fun And if there's specific topic that you want me to cover let me know in the comments and subscribe otherwise am going to create another conjugation and we will all be in the... après que... wow this is really hard Are you looking it up on google? no, no, no swear i'm not