📖LearnModule 10 · Lesson 15 of 30Independent User · CEFR B1 + B2 mastery, and the C1 bridgeUnit 3 · Le subjonctif, la carte complète
Les pièges
Module 10 of the free French course (CEFR B1 + B2 mastery, and the C1 bridge), lesson 15 of 30: Four traps catch confident writers. 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 15.
The words
French
English
Say it
il me semble que
it seems to me that
eel muh SAH(n)BL kuh
il semble que
it seems that
eel SAH(n)BL kuh
sembler
to seem
sah(n)-BLAY
le réel
what is treated as real
luh ray-EHL
le mode suit le sens
the mood follows the meaning
luh mohd swee luh SAH(n)S
attraper
to catch out
ah-trah-PAY
sûr de soi
self-assured
sewr duh SWAH
la subtilité
the subtlety
lah sewb-tee-lee-TAY
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
Four traps catch confident writers. Espérer takes the indicative. Après que takes the indicative. Même si takes the indicative. And il me semble que takes the indicative, while il semble que takes the subjunctive.
Et aussi · And also
The pattern behind three of them is the same: if the thing is treated as real, French uses the indicative, however the conjunction looks. The mood follows the reality, not the word.
Attention · Watch out
il me semble que takes the indicative; il semble que (without me) takes the subjunctive. The mood follows how real the thing is treated, not how the phrase looks.
savoir, subjonctif — the table
je sache · tu saches · il/elle sache · nous sachions · vous sachiez · ils/elles sachent
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with il me semble que.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out savoir, 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.