📖LearnModule 10 · Lesson 12 of 30Independent User · CEFR B1 + B2 mastery, and the C1 bridgeUnit 3 · Le subjonctif, la carte complète
Subjonctif ou indicatif ?
Module 10 of the free French course (CEFR B1 + B2 mastery, and the C1 bridge), lesson 12 of 30: One test settles it: am I ASSERTING this. On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 12.
The words
French
English
Say it
je sais qu'il vient
I know he is coming
zhuh seh keel VYA(n)
j'espère qu'il viendra
I hope he will come
zheh-spehr keel vya(n)-DRAH
espérer
to hope
ehs-pay-RAY
tenir à distance
to hold at arm's length
tuh-neer ah dees-TAH(n)S
l'assertionfeminine — the article elides to l'
the assertion
lah-sehr-SYOH(n)
le test
the test
luh TEHST
trancher
to settle a question
trah(n)-SHAY
fameux
famous
fah-MUH
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
Hear the words
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
La règle · The rule
One test settles it: am I ASSERTING this, or am I holding it at arm's length? Je sais qu'il vient (asserted, indicative). Je doute qu'il vienne (held away, subjunctive).
Et aussi · And also
Watch what a negative does. Je crois qu'il a raison becomes je ne crois pas qu'il ait raison — negating the belief moves the fact into doubt, and the mood follows. Espérer is the famous exception: j'espère qu'il viendra, indicative, always.
Attention · Watch out
espérer takes the indicative (j'espère qu'il viendra) even though it feels like a wish. And a negative moves the mood: je ne crois pas qu'il ait raison.
venir, subjonctif — the table
je vienne · tu viennes · il/elle vienne · nous venions · vous veniez · ils/elles viennent
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with je sais qu'il vient.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out venir, subjonctif in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The French Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.