Tricks for Remembering Irregular French Subjunctive Stems

You know the rule. You see il faut que, bien que, or pour que, and you know the subjunctive should come next. Then your brain stalls on the verb itself. Is it que je fasse or que je fais? Que nous allions or que nous allons? That freeze is usually not a “subjunctive problem” — it’s a stem problem.

Quick answer: most irregular French subjunctive forms become much easier when you group them by stem pattern instead of memorising each verb in isolation. Learn the high-frequency patterns, drill the full forms actively, and the subjunctive stops feeling random.

French learners often overfocus on rules and under-practice production. That’s why we built VerbPal around typed active recall drills: you don’t just recognise que je sache when you see it — you have to produce it. Combined with spaced repetition using the SM-2 algorithm, that matters a lot for irregular subjunctive stems, because they disappear fast if you only read them passively.

First, remember what actually changes in the subjunctive

Before you memorise irregular stems, anchor the basic structure.

For most verbs, the present subjunctive uses these endings:

• -e
• -es
• -e
• -ions
• -iez
• -ent

The irregular part is usually the stem, not the ending.

For a regular verb like parler:

• que je parle (that I speak)
• que tu parles (that you speak)
• qu’il parle (that he speaks)
• que nous parlions (that we speak)
• que vous parliez (that you speak)
• qu’ils parlent (that they speak)

So when you get stuck on irregular verbs, ask yourself one question:

What stem does this verb use in the subjunctive?

That framing simplifies everything. In VerbPal, this is exactly how we train it: not as a vague “subjunctive unit,” but as a stem-plus-ending production task. That matters because French learners need to retrieve forms, not just recognise grammar labels.

Pro Tip: Don’t memorise “the subjunctive” as one giant topic. Memorise a small set of high-frequency stem families and attach them to common trigger phrases like il faut que, bien que, and avant que.

Pattern 1: The fully irregular essentials — être, avoir, aller, faire, savoir, pouvoir, vouloir

These are the verbs you meet constantly in real French. Corpus-based frequency lists consistently place verbs like être, avoir, faire, aller, pouvoir, vouloir, and savoir among the most common verbs in the language, so their subjunctive forms are not edge cases — they are core fluency material.

Être → soi-/soy-

This one is unique and very common.

Example: Il faut que tu sois prêt. (You need to be ready.) 🔊

Avoir → ai-/ay-

Example: Je veux qu’ils aient le temps. (I want them to have time.) 🔊

Aller → aill-/all-

Example: Il faut que nous allions maintenant. (We need to go now.) 🔊

Faire → fass-

Example: Bien qu’il fasse froid, ils sortent. (Although it’s cold, they go out.) 🔊

Savoir → sach-

Example: Je doute qu’il sache la réponse. (I doubt he knows the answer.) 🔊

Pouvoir → puiss-

Example: Je veux qu’elle puisse venir. (I want her to be able to come.) 🔊

Vouloir → veuill-/voul-

Example: Je suis surpris qu’ils veuillent partir. (I’m surprised they want to leave.) 🔊

Pro Tip: Drill these seven as a fixed pack every day for a week. In VerbPal, we’d treat them as priority forms because they appear often and unlock a huge amount of real French.

Pattern 2: The “take the ils form stem” family — venir, tenir, prendre, mettre, devoir, boire, voir, recevoir

A lot of irregular subjunctive verbs stop looking random when you compare them to the third-person plural present.

• ils viennent → que je vienne
• ils prennent → que je prenne
• ils mettent → que je mette

This is one of the most useful grouping rules in French.

Venir and tenir: vienn-/tenn-

These two are close cousins and worth learning together.

Venir

Example: Il faut qu’elle vienne tôt. (She needs to come early.) 🔊

Tenir

Example: Je veux que vous teniez parole. (I want you to keep your word.) 🔊

Prendre and mettre: prenn-/mett-

Prendre

Example: Il faut que je prenne une décision. (I need to make a decision.)

Mettre

Example: Il faut que tu mettes ça ici. (You need to put that here.)

Other useful examples in the same logic

• devoir → que je doive, que nous devions — that I must, that we must
• boire → que je boive, que nous buvions — that I drink, that we drink
• voir → que je voie, que nous voyions — that I see, that we see
• recevoir → que je reçoive, que nous recevions — that I receive, that we receive

Examples:

• Bien qu’il doive partir. (Although he has to leave.)
• Je doute qu’elle boive assez d’eau. (I doubt she drinks enough water.)
• Je veux qu’ils voient le problème. (I want them to see the problem.)
• Il faut que nous recevions la confirmation. (We need to receive the confirmation.)

If you want more support on when the subjunctive appears at all, see our guide to indicative vs subjunctive in French and our list of 10 French phrases that trigger the subjunctive. And if you want to lock these patterns into memory, VerbPal lets you practise them as full forms across French tenses and moods — including irregulars, reflexives, and the subjunctive — instead of leaving them as one-off notes.

Pro Tip: When you learn an irregular subjunctive verb, write the ils present form next to it. That often gives you the stem family for free.

Pattern 3: Two-stem subjunctive verbs — one stem for singular/ils, another for nous/vous

Some of the trickiest subjunctive verbs use two different stems:

• one for je, tu, il/elle, ils/elles
• another for nous, vous

This is why forms like que nous allions and qu’ils aillent feel so different.

The big two-stem verbs to memorise

This split is not random. Historically and morphologically, these verbs preserve older patterns. Practically, though, you don’t need the history first. You need a usable memory trick.

That one idea prevents a lot of mistakes. Learners often try to force the singular irregular stem everywhere and produce things like que nous aillions or que nous veuillions. Standard French wants:

• que nous allions — that we go
• que nous voulions — that we want

This is also where active production beats passive review. In VerbPal, we make learners type both anchor forms — for example j’aille and nous allions — because that contrast is what actually fixes the pattern in memory.

Pro Tip: Always memorise irregular subjunctive verbs in two chunks: je-form + nous-form. If you know those, you can usually rebuild the rest.

Pattern 4: Verbs that look irregular but are actually predictable in the subjunctive

Not every “irregular-looking” verb needs its own special memory card. Some only feel difficult because their spelling changes distract you.

Voir, croire, envoyer, nettoyer-style verbs

Take voir:

• que je voie — that I see
• que nous voyions — that we see

That double y in voyions looks strange, but it follows the spelling logic of the verb.

Take croire:

• que je croie — that I believe
• que nous croyions — that we believe

Take envoyer:

• que j’envoie — that I send
• que nous envoyions — that we send

These are not in the same category as être or faire. They are better learned as spelling-pattern subjunctives rather than fully irregular stems.

If spelling is where you usually trip up, our posts on common French spelling mistakes in the present tense and French pronunciation and spelling mismatch will help.

Verbs with stem alternations you may already know

Some verbs carry over familiar alternations into the subjunctive:

• prendre → prenne — that I take
• boire → boive — that I drink
• devoir �� doive — that I must
• recevoir → reçoive — that I receive

These are worth drilling, but they’re easier than they seem when you group them by sound and family. Inside VerbPal, this is the difference between tagging something as a true irregular and tagging it as a spelling or stem-alternation pattern. That distinction saves time and keeps your review efficient.

Pro Tip: Separate your review list into two piles: “true irregulars” and “spelling/stem-alternation verbs.” Don’t waste the same mental energy on both.

Put it into practice

A memory system that actually works for irregular French subjunctive stems

If you want these forms in speaking, not just in notes, use this four-step system.

1. Learn by pattern, not by chapter

Build mini-groups:

• special one-off feeling verbs: être, avoir, faire, aller, savoir, pouvoir, vouloir
• ils-stem family: venir, tenir, prendre, mettre, boire, devoir, voir, recevoir
• two-stem verbs: especially aller and vouloir

This is more efficient than studying “all subjunctive verbs” at once.

2. Memorise the anchor forms

For each verb, learn:

• je
• nous
• ils

Why those three?

Because they reveal the whole system:

• je fasse — I do/make
• nous fassions — we do/make
• ils fassent — they do/make

Once you know those, tu and il are usually easy, and vous follows nous.

3. Attach each form to a trigger phrase

Don’t learn fasse alone. Learn:

• il faut que je fasse — I need to do/make
• bien qu’il soit — although he is
• je veux qu’elle puisse — I want her to be able to
• avant que nous allions — before we go

That mirrors real use and reduces hesitation.

4. Use spaced repetition with active recall

This is the step most learners skip. They read tables, feel familiar with them, and then blank in conversation. Recognition is not production.

Our drills in Learn French with VerbPal are designed around that exact gap. You recall the form yourself, under slight pressure, and our spaced repetition engine keeps recycling the verbs that are still fragile. Lexi also pops up inside the app with quick memory cues when a pattern needs to stick. Because VerbPal covers all major French verb work — tenses, irregulars, reflexives, and the subjunctive — you can keep the same system as your French gets more advanced instead of switching tools.

Here’s a simple 10-minute routine:

1. Review 7 core irregular subjunctive verbs
2. Say each one in je / nous / ils
3. Add one trigger phrase
4. Write one original sentence
5. Test yourself again later the same day

If you want a broader training structure, pair this article with our guide on how to build a 10-minute French verb drill routine and moving French verbs from passive study to active speaking.

Pro Tip: If you can say the form out loud within two seconds, you know it. If you need to “work it out,” you still need drills.

Mini quiz: can you retrieve the right stem fast?

The shortest path to mastering irregular French subjunctive stems

You do not need to brute-force every form separately. You need:

• the regular subjunctive endings
• a shortlist of truly irregular stems
• pattern groups based on stem families
• active recall until the forms become automatic

That’s the real trick for remembering irregular French subjunctive stems. Once you stop treating them as random exceptions, they become much easier to retrieve under pressure.

If you want to go deeper, you can also browse our French conjugation tables or directly Conjugate aller in French and Conjugate faire in French when you need a quick reference. But for fluency, reference is only step one. Retrieval is what counts.

FAQ

What are the most important irregular French subjunctive stems to learn first?

Start with être, avoir, aller, faire, savoir, pouvoir, and vouloir. They are common, highly irregular, and show up constantly in everyday French.

Is there a rule for irregular French subjunctive stems?

Yes: many verbs use a stem related to the third-person plural present form. But several high-frequency verbs are truly irregular, so pattern grouping works better than relying on one rule alone.

Why do nous and vous look different in some subjunctive forms?

Some verbs use two stems in the subjunctive. For example, aller gives j’aille — I go, but nous allions — we go. This is normal and worth memorising as a two-part pattern.

Should I memorise full tables for subjunctive verbs?

For your highest-priority irregulars, yes. But in practice, memorising je / nous / ils gives you the structure you need fastest. Then you reinforce the full table through active production.

What’s the fastest way to stop forgetting subjunctive stems?

Use active recall plus spaced repetition. That’s exactly why we built VerbPal the way we did: the app brings back fragile forms before they disappear, so irregular subjunctive stems move into long-term memory instead of staying as “I kind of recognise this” knowledge. VerbPal is available on iOS and Android, and you can start with a 7-day free trial.