Learn how to conjugate VENIR (to come) and TENIR (to hold) in Le Subjonctif Présent in French
The verbs VENIR and TENIR are irregular in the Le Subjonctif Présent:
que je vienne / tienne | that I come / hold |
que tu viennes / tiennes | that you come / hold |
qu'il/elle/on vienne / tienne | that he/she/we comes / holds |
que nous venions / tenions | that we come / hold |
que vous veniez / teniez | that you come / hold |
qu'ils/elles viennent / tiennent | that they come / hold |
Note that the nous and vous forms are the same as in L'Imparfait (Indicatif). (See Conjugate regular verbs in the imperfect tense in French (L'Imparfait))
As for the other forms, the irregular roots vienn- for VENIR / tienn- for TENIR are followed by the regular endings of Le Subjonctif Présent:
-e, -es, -e, [-], [-], -ent
Have a look at these examples with venir and tenir derivatives:
Venir and Tenir derivatives include:
devenir - to become
revenir - to come back
intervenir - to intervene
prévenir - to warn
se souvenir - to remember
retenir - to retain, to hold back
détenir - to detain
obtenir - to get, to obtain
appartenir - to belong
contenir - to contain
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Examples and resources
Conjugate venir/tenir and derivatives in the subjunctive present in French (Le Subjonctif Présent)
Is “ne pas” ever around the subjunctive?
I’ve seen things like:
Je veux qu’elle vienne
Je ne veux pas qu’elle vienne
But I haven’t (yet) seen:
Je veux qu’elle ne vienne pas
Does this occur in French? Can the “ne pas” wrap around the subjunctive verb?
Bonjour Brian,
You can find 'ne...pas' around a subjunctive as mentioned by Jim. Here are a few examples:
Il est probable qu'il ne vienne pas = It is likely he won't come
C'est mieux qu'elle ne soit pas là = It is better she doesn't come
Tu as peur qu'il ne parte pas = You are afraid he won't leave
Je suis navré que tu n'aies pas d'amis = I am sorry you do not have friends
Understanding the 'ne' explétif
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !
Hi Brian,
From my conjugate reference: Que je ne veuille pas (vouloir)
Qu'elle ne vienne pas (venir)
So yes is my reply.
Jim
Is “ne pas” ever around the subjunctive?
I’ve seen things like:
Je veux qu’elle vienne
Je ne veux pas qu’elle vienne
But I haven’t (yet) seen:
Je veux qu’elle ne vienne pas
Does this occur in French? Can the “ne pas” wrap around the subjunctive verb?
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Rule to form Le Subjonctif Présent
If you say the stem has to be the stem of the infinitive, then yes, you'll find lots of irregular verbs. But there's a much better rule, and I'd say the few verbs that don't follow it could be called irregular in the Subjonctif Présent.
- je/tu/il/elle/on/ils/elles: the stem is the Indicatif Présent third person plural, minus -ent
- nous/vous: the stem is the Indicatif Présent second/third first plural, minus -ons
Examples:
aimer -> ils aiment -> aim-
venir -> ils viennent -> vienn-
tenir -> ils tiennent -> tienn-
prendre -> ils prennent -> prenn-
...
There are not that many exceptions to this rule. Some important ones:
- avoir -> aie/aies/ait/ayons/ayez/aient- être -> soi- (turns into soyons/soyez making ii into y)
- faire -> fass-
- pouvoir -> puiss-
- savoir -> sach-
- aller -> aill- / all-
- valoir -> vaill- / val-
- vouloir -> veuill- / voul-
NOTE: where there are two stems, the second one is for nous/vous, the first one is for all others.
The rule for forming the subjunctive present is just that: take the stem of the third person plural in present tense and add the corresponding subjunctive suffixes.
I agree with you, that they are not really irregular in the way they form the subjunctive. They only are irregular in forming the 3rd person plural, but that's a different matter.
Rule to form Le Subjonctif Présent
If you say the stem has to be the stem of the infinitive, then yes, you'll find lots of irregular verbs. But there's a much better rule, and I'd say the few verbs that don't follow it could be called irregular in the Subjonctif Présent.
- je/tu/il/elle/on/ils/elles: the stem is the Indicatif Présent third person plural, minus -ent
- nous/vous: the stem is the Indicatif Présent second/third first plural, minus -ons
Examples:
aimer -> ils aiment -> aim-
venir -> ils viennent -> vienn-
tenir -> ils tiennent -> tienn-
prendre -> ils prennent -> prenn-
...
There are not that many exceptions to this rule. Some important ones:
- avoir -> aie/aies/ait/ayons/ayez/aient- être -> soi- (turns into soyons/soyez making ii into y)
- faire -> fass-
- pouvoir -> puiss-
- savoir -> sach-
- aller -> aill- / all-
- valoir -> vaill- / val-
- vouloir -> veuill- / voul-
NOTE: where there are two stems, the second one is for nous/vous, the first one is for all others.
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valoir & falloir irregular in the subjonctif?
Hi, I don't believe you have conjugation lessons for the verbs valoir and falloir, which are irregular in the subjonctif. Have I missed them, or would it be possible for you to add them? How many other verbs are irregular in the subjonctif?
thanks, Scott
valoir & falloir irregular in the subjonctif?
Hi, I don't believe you have conjugation lessons for the verbs valoir and falloir, which are irregular in the subjonctif. Have I missed them, or would it be possible for you to add them? How many other verbs are irregular in the subjonctif?
thanks, Scott
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I'll probably (or at least hopefully) discover the answer to this 10 minutes from now, but in the meantime, why isn't the "ne explicative" used here?
I'll probably (or at least hopefully) discover the answer to this 10 minutes from now, but in the meantime, why isn't the "ne explicative" used here?
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the person who reads this script cannot be understood!
We've been using different voice softwares, with various results as you can hear :)
Thanks to you, these audio files have now been updated and are much clearer !
Merci et à bientôt !
the person who reads this script cannot be understood!
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