How do you form the present subjunctive?

When dealing with regular verbs, the present subjunctive is formed by 1) taking the third person plural (ils/elles) form of the verb in the present tense 2) removing the -ent ending 3) adding the appropriate subjunctive endings. The subjunctive endings are: -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent. For example, the verb parler (to speak) conjugates as parlent in the 'ils' form of the present tense. So we take this conjugation, remove the -ent, and add the subjunctive endings, which gives us: je parle, tu parles, il parle, nous parlions, vous parliez, ils parlent. As always, there are irregular verbs in the subjunctive. Some are more irregular than others, however it is fairly easy to notice patterns in the conjugations which can be very useful when learning and memorising them. 

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Answered by Annabelle W. French tutor

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