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When you are hunting for the perfect apartment or hiring for a job, you often describe an ideal: "I'm looking for a place that is quiet" or "We need someone who can help."

In French, when you describe something you are looking for but **aren't sure actually exists**, you use the **subjunctive** in the relative clause (the descriptive part of the sentence).

### Searching for the ideal

Verbs like *chercher* (to look for), *vouloir* (to want), or expressions like *avoir besoin de* (to need) trigger the subjunctive when the noun they describe is a hypothetical ideal rather than a specific, known reality.

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### Asking if the ideal exists

You also use the subjunctive when asking if such a perfect thing exists, because its existence is uncertain.

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### The search vs. the reality

Once you actually find what you are looking for, the doubt is gone! When talking about a specific, existing person or thing, you use the standard **indicative** mood.

Compare a search for a hypothetical candidate:

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With a real, existing candidate who has been found:

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### Using other relative pronouns

This rule applies regardless of which relative pronoun connects your sentence. You will see it used with *qui* (who/that), *que* (whom/that), and *dont* (whose/of which).

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Describing ideal things (quelqu'un qui puisse)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Singular 'to be' and indefinite articles (je suis un...)

Singular definite articles (le, la, l')

Identifying vs. describing (c'est vs. il est)

Feminine adjective agreement (+e)

Plural pronouns and 'to be' (nous sommes, vous êtes)

Formal and informal you (tu vs. vous)

Plural nouns and indefinite articles (des... -s)

Plural definite articles (les)

Plural adjective agreement (+s)

Stressed pronouns (moi, toi, lui)

The verb "to have" singular (j'ai, tu as, il a)

The verb "to have" plural (nous avons, vous avez, ils ont)

There is / there are (il y a)

Basic verbal negation (ne... pas)

Negating "there is" (il n'y a pas de)

Regular -er verbs singular (je parle, tu parles, il parle)

Regular -er verbs plural (nous parlons, vous parlez, ils parlent)

The verb "to be called" (s'appeler)

Yes/no questions with intonation (Tu parles ?)

Yes/no questions with "Est-ce que" (Est-ce que tu parles ?)

Informal questions (qui, que, quoi)

Standard questions (est-ce que)

Singular possessives (mon, ton, son)

Plural possessives (notre, votre, leur)

Demonstrative adjectives (ce, cet, cette, ces)

Adjective placement

Numbers 1 to 20

Numbers 21 to 100

Age and physical states (avoir)

The verb to go (aller)

The preposition to/at (à, au, aux)

Question word for location (où)

Prepositions for cities and countries (à, en, au, aux)

The verb to come (venir)

The preposition from/of (de, du, des)

Question word for origin (d'où)

The verb to do/make (faire)

Days of the week (lundi, mardi)

Telling time (il est... heure)

Question words for time (quand, à quelle heure)

The verb to take or have (prendre)

The verb to drink (boire)

Partitive articles (du, de la, de l')

Zero quantity (pas de)

Expressions of quantity (un peu de, beaucoup de)

Asking how much or how many (combien, combien de)

Very vs. a lot (très, beaucoup)

The verb to want (vouloir)

Polite requests (je voudrais)

The verb to be able to (pouvoir)

Obligation (devoir)

General obligation (il faut)

Why and because (pourquoi, parce que)

Expressing purpose (pour)

Reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, nous, vous)

Daily routine verbs (se lever, s'habiller)

Adverbs of frequency (parfois, rarement)

Never (ne... jamais)

Regular -ir verbs (choisir, finir)

Regular -re verbs (attendre, répondre)

Irregular -ir verbs (sortir, partir, dormir)

Informal 'we' (on)

The imperative mood

Direct object pronouns (le, la, les, l')

The near future (aller + infinitive)

The recent past (venir de + infinitive)

The passé composé with avoir

Irregular past participles (eu, été, fait, pris, vu)

The passé composé with être

The negative passé composé (ne ... pas)

Saying goodbye

Please, sorry and thank you

Which / what (quel)

The indefinite adjective (tout, tous)

Irregular feminine adjectives (-euse, -ve)

Double consonant adjectives (-enne, -ette)

Feminine adjective endings (-ère, -trice)

Irregular plurals (-x)

Plurals ending in -al (-aux)

Present tense stem changes (e to è)

Accent stem changes (é to è)

Double consonant verbs (appeler, jeter)

Verbs ending in -yer (payer, envoyer)

Irregular communication verbs (dire, lire)

Irregular action verbs (écrire, mettre)

Question	Answer
versatile	polyvalent
We are looking for a candidate who is versatile.	On cherche un candidat qui soit polyvalent.
the tenant	le locataire
I am looking for a calm tenant who never makes noise.	Je cherche un locataire calme qui ne fasse jamais de bruit.
peaceful (calm, quiet)	paisible
Do you know a place that is peaceful?	Connaissez-vous un endroit qui soit paisible ?
atypical	atypique
to match	correspondre à
the requirement (f)	l'exigence
I need an atypical apartment that meets my requirements.	J'ai besoin d'un appartement atypique qui corresponde à mes exigences.
affordable	abordable
Is there an affordable apartment that we can rent?	Est-ce qu'il y a un appartement abordable qu'on puisse louer ?
We just visited an atypical apartment, yet it is affordable.	Nous venons de visiter un appartement atypique, pourtant il est abordable.
impossible to find	introuvable
The ideal tenant is almost impossible to find.	Le locataire idéal est presque introuvable.
the recruiter	le recruteur
The recruiter is looking for a candidate who meets these requirements.	Le recruteur cherche un candidat qui corresponde à ces exigences.
The recruiter just called a versatile candidate.	Le recruteur vient d'appeler un candidat polyvalent.
This versatile candidate is incredible, we just found him!	Ce candidat polyvalent est incroyable, on vient de le trouver !
The perfect apartment is impossible to find, yet I hope to find it.	L'appartement parfait est introuvable, pourtant j'espère le trouver.
the location (m)	l'emplacement
I am looking for an apartment whose location is peaceful.	Je cherche un appartement dont l'emplacement soit paisible.
We want a house that has an ideal location.	Nous voulons une maison qui ait un emplacement idéal.