Six of the most common ways to use the subjunctive in French

Six of the most common ways to use the subjunctive in French - Everyday French

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The French subjunctive is a biiiig topic and something that learners spend way too much time on trying to learn before using it. In this video I share 6 of the most common ways to use the subjunctive in French based on my day-to-day life.
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Here are some other videos mentioned in this one:
The French use là more than ici: • 🇫🇷 Different ways the ...
Start using Il faut que today: • Why you should use Il ...
How to use pour correctly 100% of the time: • 🇫🇷 How to use POUR in ...
Video sections:
0:00 Intro
2:04 Il faut que
3:24 Être content que
4:14 Aimer que
5:04 Pour que
6:23 Être important que
7:14 Être normal que
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Пікірлер: 94

@HeidiButkus 10 ай бұрын

C’est normal que = It’s very understandable. Or “It’s not a problem, it’s fine.” That’s my take on it anyway! Thanks Alex, for this video! I think that giving examples of specific phrases that trigger the subjunctive is very useful!

@elizabethgeaney8189 3 жыл бұрын

It helps me to think of "IL FAUT QUE" as "IT IS NECESSARY THAT"

@FrenchinPlainSight 3 жыл бұрын

That is the most common translation found online. I'm happy you find it useful. That's the main thing! Unfortunately, I don't find it helpful for me because it actually means one of "have to/need to/should" when you hear it in context. And I never say "it's necessary to" in English so I would never use il faut que in French if I used a translation that I didn't ever use.

@yohanannatanson4199 11 ай бұрын

A remembrance of school days, this poem by Apollinaire : "Vienne la nuit, sonne l'heure Les jours s'en vont, je demeure..." (Le pont Mirabeau) Where "vienne", et "sonne" are both subjonctifs, with "que" implied... Well... Probably not very useful, unless you want to look well read at a dinner...😊

@stuartdryer1352 6 ай бұрын

Pour encourager les autres

@JulietRichards-hd7nv Жыл бұрын

I have been avoiding the subjunctive because I thought it was just another whole conjugation to remember but this was super helpful and I now feel like it is manageable! THANK YOU! :)

@FrenchinPlainSight Жыл бұрын

You're welcome! The more you can break stuff down to baby steps, the more achievable it'll feel. I'll help you where I can. It's super fun :D

@shellygurl123 Жыл бұрын

That was super helpful!

@wardenblack9734 2 жыл бұрын

Excellent stuff! These videos are so informative. I always learn something new and interesting!

@richardsimms251 7 ай бұрын

Great video.

@davidboyle9549 6 ай бұрын

Merci pour ca

@ricardoherrera8764 3 жыл бұрын

merci beaucoup pour le video !!

@FrenchinPlainSight 3 жыл бұрын

De rien! *La vidéo

@CheetahBoy-gx2dx 6 ай бұрын

J'aime que tes vidéos soient faciles à comprendre. Il faut que j'en regarde plus !

@franks1450 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you very much for the video

@FrenchinPlainSight 3 жыл бұрын

You are welcome

@BGTuyau Жыл бұрын

Another nice presentation by Alex, shedding light on some of the grammatical corners of the mysterious [for English speakers] subjonctif. As a longtime learner and speaker of French as a foreign language, I don't think it would be a mistake to mix in more of the reasoning behind its use. Good that there was some -but an understanding of the reasons behind the use of this "mood" can facilitate the development of an instinctual facility with its use. Bonne continuation à tous ...

@suzieroyall5826 3 жыл бұрын

il faut que je regarde vos videos tous les jours, vous étes un trop bon prof, merci beaucoup et bonne anneé

@FrenchinPlainSight 3 жыл бұрын

Bonne année à toi !

@Qbe_Root 2 жыл бұрын

Ackchually, phrases like "Dieu soit loué" use subjunctive without "que", but yeah those are pretty rare and "que" shows up before a subjunctive 99.9% of the time. A common thing between all the ways you presented is that they can all be used with infinitive, sometimes introduced with "de": "Il faut faire le ménage", "Je suis content de partir en vacances", "J'aime me balader en forêt", "Afin de protéger le monde de la dévastation", "C'est important de garder son sang-froid", "C'est normal de ne pas savoir". Infinitive doesn't have a subject so it has to be implied from context, but subjunctive allows you to give a different subject. I'm not sure if that's true for all uses of subjunctive, I never thought about it that way before, but the only counter-example I can think of is "après que" which is followed by indicative, and even then most people use subjunctive anyway.

@slicksalmon6948 Жыл бұрын

This reinforces my opinion that at the B1 level, you can usually talk around your need to use the subjunctive in most cases. At higher levels, you probably need to employ the subjunctive just to demonstrate your command of the language. You certainly have to use it in writing, particularly when expressing an opinion.

@ellisdp Жыл бұрын

@@slicksalmon6948 I think it's probably something that whenever you can start to include it, it's going to make you sound more natural and more authentic in French, even though French speakers will make allowances if you don't.

@slicksalmon6948 Жыл бұрын

@@ellisdp I agree.

@marisrog8671 Жыл бұрын

C'est normal que j'aime tes videos,tu es genial et humble

@FrenchinPlainSight Жыл бұрын

De même ;)

@cefnonn Жыл бұрын

L'imparfait du subjonctif, s'il vous plaît. That would be super interesting.

@tejasgaming2933 2 ай бұрын

j'espère que tu fasses un video sur le sujet des connecteurs bientôt

@FrenchinPlainSight 2 ай бұрын

Actually "J'espère que" introduces the indicative and not the subjunctive. Somewhat of an exception!

@kendrapaleczny3388 9 ай бұрын

Could you please do a video explaining how to use 'il s'agit de' / 's'agir' ? It's so confusing :(

@srigowritn5733 Жыл бұрын

Hi nice video 😊. Please tell me how to tell the students the difference between il faut que and it est necessaire que? Wherein in the first case we should use subjonctif. But not with - il est que.

@paulscott337 Жыл бұрын

J'adore Paris que ce soit au printemps ou en automne.

@jaydu26 2 жыл бұрын

Il faudrait que Je ne pense pas que Je ne trouve pas que are good common triggers too!!

@FrenchinPlainSight 3 жыл бұрын

Edit: I have since found out that the subjunctive can come up without "que" but it's only in rare cases! Francophiles! Did you know you can support the channel by becoming a member? Click the Join button above or this link to see the rewards. kzfaq.info/love/7dUg3m9dD3nRqb5joq2crQjoin What's your best attempt at using the subjunctive?

@meganmartinaux6407 3 жыл бұрын

Subjunctive aside, drives me up the wall when I first heard that after a little episode, (ok no more mother in law stories) but that c’est normal would seriously wind me up lol. Thank you for this excellent Video my new teacher hero, got it! C’est normal que...cool now I won’t get so wound up hearing it lol The way you explain the context in which to use phrases, helping massively to get out of resenting this process. Cheers Alex. Day 2 of French in Plain Sight thaaaannk youuuu

@lllordllloyd 2 жыл бұрын

I got excited when you said the rule of after 'que' applies in all cases... then I was too dim to follow a lot of the rest :(

@theboyfromxtown 3 жыл бұрын

Great video Alex. Mais c'est nomal que tu fasses une bonne video! It's expected that you will make a good video!

@biancabhardwaj8347 3 жыл бұрын

Je me souviens de la vidéo 'How to say I am excited in French' . Il y avait l'utilisation de 'j'ai hâte que' et je n'avait pas compris. Mais je comprends mieux maintenant! Merci beaucoup:)

@FrenchinPlainSight 3 жыл бұрын

Ah cool. Qu'est-ce qui a été le déclic pour toi dans celle-ci ?

@biancabhardwaj8347 3 жыл бұрын

@@FrenchinPlainSight Quand tu as dit 'je suis ravi que' ..c'était ça, exactement le déclic! Tu peux me corriger si j'ai fait des erreurs:)

@FrenchinPlainSight 3 жыл бұрын

Super !

@melanieklarofficial 3 жыл бұрын

En anglais, on dit "I am excited" mai j'ai apris de la dure NOT to say "je suis excité!!"

@davidboyle9549 6 ай бұрын

Do you have any ideas please for an immersive stay in France to improve my spoken french without breaking the bank ? Volunteering?? Problem too much info on the internet and not all good. Thankyou

@ollieflj 3 жыл бұрын

« C’est normal » c’est le pareil que « it’s understandable » en anglais? Et « c’est normal que » est le même que « it’s understandable that... » ?

@FrenchinPlainSight 3 жыл бұрын

Oui, bien joué. C'est ça. Par contre, est-ce que tu dis "it's understandable" souvent en anglais ?

@ollieflj 3 жыл бұрын

French in Plain Sight Je crois que dans les examples que tu nous ai donné, oui. “Sorry I’m late, the baby was sick all over my shirt so I had to change” “Ah, don’t worry, that’s understandable” Ou It’s understandable that John couldn’t come if he broke his leg yesterday!” Peut-être il n’y a pas une traduction direct, mais le sens est le même. Est qu’il y a des autres situations où on utiliserait « c’est normal » quand « it’s understandable » marche pas ?

@andreauneamericaine.5739 3 жыл бұрын

@@ollieflj How about: It's ok

@FrenchinPlainSight 3 жыл бұрын

@@ollieflj J'y ai réfléchis et je suis arrivé à la conclusion que ce n'est pas le fait que la traduction ne marche pas mais que nous, en anglais, on aurait peut-être une différente réponse dans cette situation. Par exemple, si on s'excuse auprès de moi d'être en retard, je dirai "no worries" ou "that's ok". Qu'est-ce que t'en penses ?

@jeannettesheahan8381 2 жыл бұрын

@@FrenchinPlainSight

@ConnieCC58 2 жыл бұрын

“C’est normal” - is it kind of like “It’s a given” or “It goes without saying”? And if so, is it similar to the expression “Il va de soi que . . .”? Thank you Alex!!

@FrenchinPlainSight 2 жыл бұрын

Yes! "It goes without saying." I think that's pergect Connie. As for "il va de soi", I think it's slightly different but I'm truly not sure. Right now, instinctively I say it would sound strange to replace "c'est normal". I like your logic!

@yohanannatanson4199 11 ай бұрын

Il va de soi que... (It's obvious, or it goes without saying) does NOT trigger the subjonctif... Il va de soi que tu n'as pas à venir au travail aujourd'hui.

@slicksalmon6948 2 жыл бұрын

At what age or educational level would native French speakers be expected to have a firm grasp of the subjunctive?

@Megrez-Alberich 3 жыл бұрын

You can find the subjunctive after relative pronouns other than "que" : la seule chose dont je me *souvienne* , c'est important d'avoir un métier dans lequel on *puisse* s'épanouir, nous recherchons quelqu'un qui *sache* parler allemand couramment, ma chambre est le seul endroit où je me *sente* vraiment en sécurité, etc. But this is nitpicking, really ^_=

@FrenchinPlainSight 3 жыл бұрын

I've started to notice that recently and was blown away. I thought it was a mistake!

@Megrez-Alberich 3 жыл бұрын

@@FrenchinPlainSight Actually, there's a small nuance: "je cherche quelqu'un qui peut m'aider" (=> I know that such a person exists), whereas "je cherche quelqu'un qui puisse m'aider" (=> I'm not so sure that such a person actually exists).

@srigowritn5733 Жыл бұрын

Not with il est necessaire que.

@thedavidguy01 3 жыл бұрын

It seems as if everybody says is an adjective, it should be >. The distinction between

@FrenchinPlainSight 3 жыл бұрын

I have put it to the people on Instagram. Someone will have the answer! But most of the time, we (perhaps wrongly) use "c'est" with adjectives.

@thedavidguy01 3 жыл бұрын

@@FrenchinPlainSight I read a bit more about this "rule" and you can use C'est + masculine adjective to describe a situation but not a person. So you can say "C'est beau" to describe something or a general state but not a person. For example, you cannot say: "Regarde Pierre! C'est beau." You must say "Il est beau." That said there seems to be a historical transition where "Il est normal" was used more often until now "C'est normal" is more common.

@FrenchinPlainSight 3 жыл бұрын

Do you live in France David? By the way, not sure if you're on Instagram, but I've got a few great (detailed) answers from French teachers that I'm sharing in my story. I can't share images here. They are more than happy to dive into the nuts and bolts of this. As expected!

@thedavidguy01 3 жыл бұрын

@@FrenchinPlainSight Thanks, I read the responses on Instagram and they reinforce my now improved understanding of the topic. I am an American living in the USA and am learning French as a hobby. I watch French TV and movies, listen to French podcasts, and talk to 2 or 3 French people every week by Skype. I've also been reading a lot of French literature lately. I spent 2 weeks at Accent Français in Montpellier 16 months ago. At the end they assessed my level as B2. I find your tips useful even though I'm trying to get from B2 to C1 (and trying to stop making basic mistakes so often).

@MegaLozenge 3 жыл бұрын

@@thedavidguy01 Yeah this is the rule I heard.

@thedavidguy01 3 жыл бұрын

Merci de votre vidéo. Je veux que le subjonctif n'ait jamais existé. How about "It's only natural" for

@FrenchinPlainSight 3 жыл бұрын

Yes that fits but sounds very unusual to me. What about you?

@thedavidguy01 3 жыл бұрын

@@FrenchinPlainSight It sounds old fashioned.

@eleanorbeadsworth34 2 жыл бұрын

On y soit qui mal y pense

@geraldelwood9660 2 жыл бұрын

It's quite understandable ..... for you to be late

@noodle3681 2 жыл бұрын

Not part of this lesson by why does ‘là’ mean ‘here’ in this case and not ‘ici’? Love your videos btw.

@FrenchinPlainSight 2 жыл бұрын

Great question. In everyday French, it's very common to use "là" as a catch-all term for both here and there. It can also mean "now".

@nawarnawar5822 3 жыл бұрын

Hi. What's the difference between ' que ' and ' qui ' ? Does ' qui' refer to the subject of the sentence ? Does ' que' refer to the object of the sentence? For example If I want to say: He is the man who plays football Is it C'est l'homme qui joue au football. Another one for ' que' She is the girl whom I love. Is it C'est la fille que j'aime. Another question Can I say il est l'homme instead of saying c'est l'homme?

@FrenchinPlainSight 3 жыл бұрын

Your sentences are perfect. Bravo :). No, you can't say il est l'homme.

@nawarnawar5822 3 жыл бұрын

@@FrenchinPlainSight thank you so much

@gazalakhan8113 2 жыл бұрын

Bonjour monsieur !...Je ne suis pas sûr qu'elle aille à Paris. (Cela exprime un doute)

@FrenchinPlainSight 2 жыл бұрын

Exactement ! Bravo Gazala !

@FredKongo 3 жыл бұрын

Je n'ai découvert que récemment l'horreur de "bien que" et de nombreuses autres expressions construites "+ que".

@FrenchinPlainSight 3 жыл бұрын

Ahah ! Je utilise très peu cette construction-là ! C'est presque impossible qu'on retienne toutes sans les utiliser régulièrement. C'est plutôt le fait que ces constructions introduisent le subjonctif qui te rend horrifié, n'est-ce pas ? Apprendre les "triggers" + que est une tâche moins stressante je dirais. D'ailleurs, j'adore ta façon d'écrire. C'est très français !!!

@mjwemdee 11 ай бұрын

Another use of the subjunctive is the situation where in English we would employ the verb ‘let’. As in: Let her come! Qu’elle vienne! Another use is when using a superlative + relative clause. As in: He’s the most irritating man I know. C’est l’homme le plus irritant que je connaisse. It’s the cheapest one there is. C’est le moindre cher qui soit. (Note in this last expression the ‘100% rule’ about the subjunctive always being preceded by ‘que’ rather falls down!)

@loseurblues6406 3 жыл бұрын

I wanted to invite you to my live stream podcast show as a guest speaker. Where can I contact you?

@FrenchinPlainSight 3 жыл бұрын

Please email me at alex@frenchinplainsight.com.

@michelgolabaigne595 2 жыл бұрын

Merci Alex, certainement un sujet très important... :) Cependant... tu n'as pas expliqué ce que signifient ces deux phrases : Pour qu'Alex aille au travail. Afin Alex aille au travail. Ces phrases sans contexte n'ont aucun sens... Ce serait bien si tu l'expliquais :)

@FrenchinPlainSight 2 жыл бұрын

Pour que / afin que = so that. On les utilise pour exprimer un but. La cause et le resultat. Je fais une vidéo pour que plus d'apprenants me découvrent. Afin que est la forme formelle.

@pedantic433 9 ай бұрын

...or qui...

@Moshie71 9 ай бұрын

Merci mais pourquoi on a dit “tu sois là” et pas “tu sois ici”?

@JL-qt1nb 5 ай бұрын

Là is rather used than ici in spoken french.

@eleanorbeadsworth34 2 жыл бұрын

Pardon ! Honi soit qui mal y pense

@mayawilliam2588 3 жыл бұрын

Il faut que je sache la vérité. C’est important que vous ne mentiez pas.

@FrenchinPlainSight 3 жыл бұрын

💯💯💯. C'est parfait

@Bombur888 2 жыл бұрын

Actually ... There ARE exceptions to the "que" rule too 😂, albeit not that frequent. Like in "puisse-t-il [faire ci ou ça] ", which is a way to say "may he [do this or that]", as in a way to express a wish. Exemple: "Puisse-t-il aller en Enfer." -> "May he go to Hell."

@ilabudiambu1419 2 жыл бұрын

yes but these are way too formal lol. not very frequent in daily chat.

@Bombur888 2 жыл бұрын

@@ilabudiambu1419 Indeed.

@cassbellydance 3 жыл бұрын

Ugh... the subjunctive

@edgardtitus3372 2 жыл бұрын

My opinion of this video is that it could have been more grammatically comprehensive ... instructive and useful if it had included a brief explanation of the grammatical concept of "mood" that is integral to a correct understanding of the verb ... and its use as one of the more essential parts of speech of any language The narrator's use of the term "subjunctive" without explaining the concept behind its nomenclature is disappointingly inadequate... in my opinion ... for the avid language learner who seeks mastery over grammatical concepts that determine the correctness of any spoken and written language... his own or any others'' The deficiency I note with this video is its introduction of a topic... the "subjunctive".. without explaining the concept behind the term..... had that been done ... the learner would have understood the term to refer to some aspect of verb usage ... a vital piece of knowledge to have In this regard... the learner would have been introduced to the notion of verbs and their morphological constructions expressing "mood" ... in addition to the more familiar aspects of person ( i.. you..he )... number ( singular or plural ) ... and tense ( past .. present ... future ) rhat verbs are known for "Mood"" ... as the r podcasti instructor knows .. is the aspect of verb usage that recognizes the degree of factual concreteness of any action expressed in word or script..... review of this concept would reveal that the "indicative mood"" denotes actions that happened .. are happening ...and will happen .... as opposed to those actions that don't occur or ( havent yet iccurred) in the realm of actual reality ... Instead these actions exist as potentialities ... "il se peut que" ....actions wished for ..."j'aimerais que" .. ... actions that express obligation ... " il faut que" ....or actions that are used in expressing some sentiment or emotion ... "je suis content que" Maybe the matters I've brought up in this text have been covered in detail in other videos produced by the podcaster But as in writing prose... it's always helpful to remind the reader of the topic being developed by making some reference to it with every new paragraph created .. A 90 second review of these grammar basics would have enhanced the educational value of the video by providing pertinent contextual requisites for use of the subjunctive mood in language ... and exposing the learner to the essential vocabulary used to explain these grannarucal concepts th