When discussing safety and emergency preparedness, you will constantly need to give instructions and state necessities. Expressions like il faut que (it is necessary that) and il est essentiel que (it is essential that) require the subjunctive.
In this lesson, we will learn the subjunctive forms for five essential irregular verbs: savoir, pouvoir, faire, aller, and vouloir.
Single Irregular Stems: Savoir, Pouvoir, and Faire
Many verbs have completely irregular stems in the subjunctive, but they still take the standard subjunctive endings: -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent.
Three of the most common are:
- savoir (to know): stem sach- (e.g., que je sache)
- pouvoir (to be able to): stem puiss- (e.g., que je puisse)
- faire (to do / to make): stem fass- (e.g., que je fasse)
Two-Stem Irregulars: Aller and Vouloir
Some irregular verbs use two different stems in the subjunctive: one for the singular pronouns and ils/elles, and a second stem (often resembling the nous form of the present indicative) for nous and vous.
Here is the subjunctive of aller (to go), which uses the stems aill- and all-:
| Pronoun | aller (to go) |
|---|
| je / j' | que j'aille |
| tu | que tu ailles |
| il/elle/on | qu'il aille |
| nous | que nous allions |
| vous | que vous alliez |
| ils/elles | qu'ils aillent |
Here is the subjunctive of vouloir (to want), which uses the stems veuill- and voul-:
| Pronoun | vouloir (to want) |
|---|
| je / j' | que je veuille |
| tu | que tu veuilles |
| il/elle/on | qu'il veuille |
| nous | que nous voulions |
| vous | que vous vouliez |
| ils/elles | qu'ils veuillent |