Living in France has meant having to study French.  Studying French has meant learning to use the subjunctive, a special type of conjugation that turns up when expressing doubt, sentiment, a personal judgement or a desire.

So “je comprends le subjonctif” is right (I hope), but “c’est important que je comprends le subjonctif” is wrong and should actually be “c’est important que je comprenne le subjonctif.”

With me so far?  You’re doing better than I did, or most Anglophones do for that matter.  The subjunctive is one of those things that we all struggle with, but which French people use all the time (unless they’re getting it wrong as well.)  So far I reckon I have about a 50% success rate.

It is at this point in a class that the French teacher (and many Anglophone students) may nod sagely, and observe that the reason for the difficulty is that we English don’t use the subjunctive.  Which is, as it happens, completely wrong:  we use the subjunctive in English all the time.  It just isn’t always clear that we’re doing it.

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