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Subjonctif variable
Obviousness, knowledge, certainty, and hope are considered real – at least to the speaker – and therefore do not call for the French subjunctive. Using these verbs and expressions in the negative or interrogative, however, indicates doubt: thus the subjunctive is required.
These are the French verbs and phrases that may or may not be followed by the subjunctive, depending on how they’re used:
| c’est que | it’s that/because | |
| connaître (quelqu’un) qui | to know (someone) that | |
| croire que | to believe that | |
| dire que | to say that | |
| espérer que | to hope that | |
| être certain que | to be certain that | |
| être sûr que | to be sure that | |
| il est certain que | it is certain that | |
| il est clair que | it is clear/obvious that | |
| il est évident que | it is obvious that | |
| il est probable que | it is probable that | |
| il est exact que | it is correct/true that | |
| il est sûr que | it is certain that | |
| il est vrai que | it is true that | |
| il me (te, lui…) semble que | it seems to me (you, him…) that | |
| il paraît que | it appears that | |
| penser que | to think that | |
| savoir que | to know that | |
| trouver que | to find/think that | |
| vouloir dire que | to mean that |
Par exemple…
| Je pense qu’il est sympa. | I think he’s nice. | |
| Je ne pense pas qu’il soit sympa. | I don’t think he’s nice. | |
| Penses-tu qu’il soit sympa ? | Do you think he’s nice? | |
| Il est clair que Luc le sait. | It’s clear that Luc knows. | |
| Il n’est pas clair que Luc le sache. | It’s not clear whether Luc knows. | |
| Est-il clair que Luc le sache ? | Is it clear that Luc knows? |
In contrast, douter (to doubt), il est douteux (it’s doubtful), and nier (to deny) take the subjunctive when they are affirmative, but not when they are negative.
| Je doute qu’il vienne. | I doubt he’ll come. | |
| Je ne doute pas qu’il ne* vient. | I don’t doubt that he’ll come. |
* This is the ne explétif
More French subjunctive
- Introduction to the subjunctive
- Regular subjunctive conjugations
- Irregular subjunctive conjugations
- Subjunctive with negative and indefinite pronouns
- The Subjunctivisor!
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