Fortunately, the subjunctive is rather unique in its formation, so you should usually be able to tell when it's being used. To form the present subjunctive with regular verbs, you must first obtain the subjunctive stem. This is based on the present indicative conjugation of the verb in the third person plural. Simply drop the -ent ending, and you have your stem. Because of this construction, most irregular verbs end up following a regular formation pattern in the subjunctive. The following endings are then added to the end of the subjunctive stem.

Table 16-1

Subjunctive Verb Endings

Person	Singular	Plural
1st Person	-e	-ions
2nd Person	-es	-iez
3rd Person	-e	-ent

You'll note that the third person plural endings are actually the same in the subjunctive and the indicative. When the third person plural is used in the subjunctive, you'll have to know from the sentence construction that it is being used in the construction, because nothing about the verb actually tells you.

This section demonstrates the present-tense conjugation of the three kinds of regular verb endings and the forms of irregular verbs. Pay attention to the nous and vous forms; these endings sound very much like the imperfect endings but are, in fact, present subjunctive. You need to rely on the construction to know that these are being used in the subjunctive.

-er Verbs

All -er verbs follow the pattern seen in Table 16-2.

Table 16-2

Subjunctive Conjugation of Parler

Singular	Plural
je parle	nous parlions
tu parles	vous parliez
il/elle parle	ils/elles parlent

-ir Verbs

All -ir verbs follow the pattern seen in Table 16-3.

Table 16-3

Subjunctive Conjugation of Finir

Singular	Plural
je finisse	nous finissions
tu finisses	vous finissiez
il/elle finisse	ils/elles finissent

-re Verbs

All -re verbs follow the pattern seen in Table 16-4.

Table 16-4

Subjunctive Conjugation of Répondre

Singular	Plural
je réponde	nous répondions
tu répondes	vous répondiez
il/elle réponde	ils/elles répondent

Irregular Verbs in the Subjunctive

The following irregular verbs also have irregular formations in the subjunctive, following no real consistent pattern.

Table 16-5

Subjunctive Conjugation of Aller

Singular	Plural
j'aille	nous allions
tu ailles	vous alliez
il/elle aille	ils/elles aillent

Table 16-6

Subjunctive Conjugation of Avoir

Singular	Plural
j'aie	nous ayons
tu aies	vous ayez
il/elle aie	ils/elles aient

Table 16-7

Subjunctive Conjugation of Être

Singular	Plural
je sois	nous soyons
tu sois	vous soyez
il/elle soit	ils/elles soient

Table 16-8

Subjunctive Conjugation of Faire

Singular	Plural
je fasse	nous fassions
tu fasses	vous fassiez
il/elle fasse	ils/elles fassent

Table 16-9

Subjunctive Conjugation of Pouvoir

Singular	Plural
je puisse	nous puissions
tu puisses	vous puissiez
il/elle puisse	ils/elles puissent

Table 16-10

Subjunctive Conjugation of Savoir

Singular	Plural
je sache	nous sachions
tu saches	vous sachiez
il/elle sache	ils/elles sachent

Table 16-11

Subjunctive Conjugation of Vouloir

Singular	Plural
je veuille	nous voulions
tu veuilles	vous vouliez
il/elle veuille	ils/elles veuillent