grammar
Le subjonctif des verbes en « -er »: Expressing necessity.
The subjunctive is a special "mood" in French used to express necessity, desire, emotion, or doubt. It is almost always introduced by the word que. Fortunately, for regular verbs ending in -er, forming the subjunctive is incredibly easy!
The Conjugation Rule
For regular -er verbs, the subjunctive conjugation is perfectly identical to the present indicative tense, with only two exceptions: nous and vous. For these two pronouns, you add an "i" before the standard ending (making them -ions and -iez).
| je parle | nous parlions |
| tu parles | vous parliez |
| il/elle/on parle | ils/elles parlent |
More Examples with -er Verbs
This rule applies universally across regular verbs in this group. Notice how the je form looks totally normal, while the nous form gets that distinct "i".
Trouver (to find):
« Il est important que je trouve mes clés. » (It is important that I find my keys.)
« Il est important que nous trouvions une solution. » (It is important that we find a solution.)
Demander (to ask):
« Il faut que je demande à mon professeur. » (I must ask my teacher.)
« Il faut que nous demandions de l'aide. » (We must ask for help.)
The phrase « Il faut que... » (It is necessary that / One must...) is the most common gateway into the subjunctive mood. Whenever you use this phrase to give advice or state a requirement, the following verb will be pushed into the subjunctive.