📖LearnModule 15 · Lesson 22 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2 mastery — the capstoneUnit 5 · La grammaire de la précision
Le subjonctif, une dernière fois
Module 15 of the free French course (CEFR C2 mastery — the capstone), lesson 22 of 30: The second thing is over-use. 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 22.
The words
French
English
Say it
l'abus du subjonctifmasculine — the article elides to l'
over-use of the subjunctive
lah-bew dew sewb-zhoh(n)k-TEEF
nommer le déclencheur
to name the trigger
noh-may luh day-klah(n)-SHUHR
en deux mots
in two words
ah(n) duh MOH
le verbe de pensée
the verb of thinking
luh vehrb duh pah(n)-SAY
ajouté à tort
wrongly added
ah-zhoo-tay ah TOR
manquant
missing
mah(n)-KAH(n)
la vérification rapide
the quick check
lah vay-ree-fee-kah-syoh(n) rah-PEED
probablement
probably
proh-bah-bluh-MAH(n)
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
The second thing is over-use. At C2 the error is almost never a missing subjunctive; it is one added after espérer, après que, même si, or a verb of thinking that was not negated.
Et aussi · And also
The check: for every subjunctive you have written, name the trigger. If you cannot name it in two words, the indicative was probably right.
Attention · Watch out
The C2 error is the subjunctive ADDED: after espérer, après que and même si the indicative is right (j'espère qu'il viendra; même si c'est vrai). For every subjunctive you write, name the trigger in two words or take it out.
croire, subjonctif — the table
je croie · tu croies · il/elle croie · nous croyions · vous croyiez · ils/elles croient
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with l'abus du subjonctif.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out croire, 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.