French Variable Subjunctive - Lawless French Grammar


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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.