Has the subjunctive in French also fallen out of fashion? I understand of course to use it in more formal situations, but in lesser formal situations,

Mlle G.B2Kwiziq community member

Has the subjunctive in French also fallen out of fashion? I understand of course to use it in more formal situations, but in lesser formal situations,

 not necessarily overly friendly, would one still use the subjunctive?

Asked 5 years ago
CécileNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hi Mlle,

As Chris says , the subjunctive is alive and kicking in French but there are sometimes ways to avoid it by replacing it by a noun or a verb in the infinitive -

Je vais attendre jusqu’à ce que tu viennes = Je vais attendre jusqu’à ton arrivée 

Donnez-moi votre adresse avant que vous ne partiez = Donnez-moi votre adresse avant votre départ

Il faut que tu ailles en France la semaine prochaine = Il te faut aller en France la semaine prochaine 

But the French will use comfortably in every day speech.

Hope this helps

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

I don't think it has. I hear it used quite regularly in spoken French. Of course, there will be some cases where it is more often used in written than in spoken French, but in general it is alive and well.

Mlle G. asked:

Has the subjunctive in French also fallen out of fashion? I understand of course to use it in more formal situations, but in lesser formal situations,

 not necessarily overly friendly, would one still use the subjunctive?

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