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Specific circumstances triggering the subjunctive (1)Sense of 'negation' in the main clauseIn general:
A negated verb, or a verb, noun or adjective with a 'negative sense' triggers the
subjunctive in any relative clause that it governs.
So that includes words such as douter/douteux/doute que..., impossible/impossibilité que..., improbable/improbabilité que... but it also includes negated verbs il n'est pas possible que..., il n'y a rien que..., and adjectives negated with peu: il est peu probable que.... Examples:
il est peu probable qu'il puisse venir
it is unlikely that he'll be able to come il n'y a rien qui puisse m'empêcher there's nothing that can stop me je ne crois pas qu'il puisse le faire tout seul I don't think he can do it on his own l'impossibilité que ce projet réussisse the impossibility of this project succeeding  Suggest a change / proposez une modificationNote, however, that the subjunctive isn't triggered in everyday French where the negated verb is être in the phrase ce n'est pas ... qui ...:
ce n'est pas moi qui pourra vous aider
I'm not the one that will be able to help you With the phrases et non pas..., et non point...In form French, the phrase non pas can be used to ellide a previous verb. For example:
nous cherchons une personne honnête et non pas une personne qui soit...
we're looking for an honest person, and not a person who is... In this case, the subjunctive seems to predominate. The largely equivalent phrase non point, in common written usage until some time in the 1800s but nowadays rare, also triggers the subjunctive. Subordinate clause can be paraphrased by cette situation etcThe subjunctive encapsulates a non-assertion or "imagined situation". So:
Verbs, nouns and adjectives that could have a phrase such
as cette situation, cette possibilité,
cette action as their object tend to trigger a subjunctive in
any subordinate clause that acts as their object.
Examples:
je permettrai cette action
I'll allow this action je permettrai qu'il vienne I'll allow him to come je veux cette situation I want this situation je veux qu'il vienne I want him to come elle a renié cette possibilité she denied this possibility elle a renié que le terrorisme puisse nous toucher she denied that terrorism might affect us je m'attendais à cette situation I expected this situation je m'attendais à ce qu'il le fasse I expected him to do it supposons cette situation let's suppose this situation supposons qu'il vienne avant 8 heures let's suppose he comes before 8 o'clock il faut cette action2 we need this action il faut qu'il réussisse we need him to succeed ils ont proposé cette situation they proposed this situation ils ont proposé que je vienne à 8 heures they proposed that I (should) come at 8 o'clock, they suggested me coming at 8 o'clock elle préférerait cette option she'd prefer this option elle préférerait que je vienne plus tard she'd prefer me to come later Suggest a change / proposez une modificationNote that the clause must be paraphrasable and above all be a non-assertion. A big clue in English is that a 'tenseless' verb construction such as "for him to do it", "him doing it", "that he sould do it" is used rather than a 'normal' verb ("he came", "he will come"). Contrast this with verbs that clearly introduce an assertion, such as reported speech. In such cases, the verb in the subordinate clause remains in the indicative:
ils ont dit que Marie est morte
they said that Marie is dead j'ai entendu dire que François Fillon est le nouveau premier ministre I've heard that François Fillon is the new Prime Minister il a expliqué que ce n'est pas possible he explained that it isn't possible Suggest a change / proposez une modificationIn thease cases, we wouldn't gnerally use one of the "tenseless" constructions in English: *they said Mary being dead, *I've heard Fillon being..., ??he explained it not being possible. The 'emotive' construction with adjectivesThere is a construction être ADJECTIVE que... which commonly takes a subordinate clause with a subjunctive and where the corresponding paraphase would be ... DE/PAR cette situation:
je suis content de la situation
I'm happy with the situation je suis content que tu puisses venir I'm happy that you can come elle est outragée de/par cette attitude she is outraged by this attitude elle est outragée que Marie ne puisse pas venir she is outraged that Marie cannot come Suggest a change / proposez une modificationSubordinate clause as the subject of the sentence
When a subordinate clause is the subject of a sentence, the subordinate generally
has its verb in the subjunctive.
Examples:
qu'il vienne est très important
him coming is very important qu'il ne puisse pas venir est regrettable him not being able to come is regrettable qu'il ait dit ça m'a choqué that he said that shocked me qu'il ne puisse pas venir s'explique très facilement him not being able to come is easy to explain qu'elle puisse venir est très probable her being able to come is very probable Suggest a change / proposez une modificationIt is common to switch such sentences round, so that the logical subject isn't actually in the subject position of the sentence, and instead a 'dummy subject' (typically ça or il) is inserted at the beginning of the sentence. But the subordinate clause still generally takes the subjunctive:
ça m'a choqué qu'il ait dit ça
I was shocked that he said that il est très important qu'il vienne it is very important for him to come ça s'explique très facilement qu'il ne puisse pas venir it is easy to explain him not being able to come ça ne m'étonnerait pas qu'il vienne trop tard I wouldn't be surprised if he was too late Suggest a change / proposez une modificationHowever, the subjunctive is overridden (but only in the 'switched round' sentence) in cases where the subordinate clause more clearly expresses an assertion, such as with adjectives évident, probable:
il est très probable qu'elle pourra venir
it is very probable that she'll be able to come il est probable/fort possible/vrai qu'elle viendra it is probable/quite possible/true that she'll be coming Suggest a change / proposez une modificationDislocated clausesThe subjunctive is also triggered in so-called "dislocated clauses" (que ..., c'est...), such as:
qu'elle puisse venir, c'est certain
that she can come is certain Suggest a change / proposez une modificationFurther circumstances triggering the subjective...Click here for further circumstances triggering the subjunctive. Notes
1. In informal speech, après (que) can actually trigger the
subjunctive, probably by analogy with avant (que).
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