📖LearnModule 7 · Lesson 1 of 30Independent User · CEFR B1, completedUnit 1 · Il faut que — the subjunctive opens
Il faut que — the door opens
Module 7 of the free French course (CEFR B1, completed), lesson 1 of 30: Module 2 completes B1. 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 1.
The words
French
English
Say it
il faut que
it is necessary that
eel FOH kuh
il faut que je parle
I have to speak
eel foh kuh zhuh PAHRL
le subjonctif
the subjunctive
luh sewb-zhoh(n)k-TEEF
il est important que
it is important that
eel eh ta(n)-por-TAH(n) kuh
nécessaire
necessary
nay-say-SEHR
le directeur
the manager
luh dee-rehk-TUHR
l'obligationfeminine — the article elides to l'
the obligation
loh-blee-gah-SYOH(n)
tout de suite
right away
too duh SWEET
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
Module 2 completes B1, and it opens with the form that separates a confident writer from a beginner: le subjonctif. It is not a new TIME — it is a new MOOD, the shape a verb takes after necessity, will and feeling. Il faut que je parle au directeur: I have to speak to the manager.
Et aussi · And also
The regular build is mechanical. Take the ils-form of the present, drop the -ent, and add -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent. Ils parlent gives que je parle; ils finissent gives que je finisse. The nous and vous forms come out looking exactly like the imparfait — that is a gift, not a trap.
Attention · Watch out
The regular subjunctive comes from the ILS-form of the present, not the je-form: ils parlent gives que je parle, ils finissent gives que je finisse. Start from ils.
parler, subjonctif — the table
je parle · tu parles · il/elle parle · nous parlions · vous parliez · ils/elles parlent
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with il faut que.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out parler, 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.