Thursday, November 7, 2019
Savoir Is About Certainty, So No French Subjunctive
Savoir Is About Certainty, So No French Subjunctive The French verb savoir (to know) does not take the subjunctive. Very often used with que to introduce a dependent clause, savoir and savoir que are all about certainty. Thus, they do not fulfill the subjunctives basic requirement of uncertainty and emotion. The subjunctive mood is used to express actions or ideas that are subjective or otherwise uncertain: will/wanting, emotion, doubt, possibility, necessity, judgment. The French subjunctive is nearly always found in dependent clauses introduced by que or qui, and the subjects of the dependent and main clauses are usually different. Savoir Savoir means to know information and facts or to know how to do something. In the passà © composà ©, savoir means to learn or to find out, again with no subjunctive. (The verb is quite different from the French verb connaà ®tre, which means to know a person or to be familiar with a person or thing.)   Je sais oà ¹ il est.   I know where he is.   Je sais conduire.   I know how to drive.   (The conjugated savoir is followed by an infinitive when the meaning is to know how.) Savoir Que Savoir que is the conjugated savoir plus a dependent clause beginning with que.    Je sais quil la fait.    I know he did it.   Jai su quil la fait.   I found out that he did it. Savoir que is not normally used in negative and interrogative statements; its far more natural to use a si clause in such cases, which means, once again, that the subjunctive is not used:   Je ne sais pas si vous avez raison.   I dont know if youre right.   Sais-tu sil a raison ?   Do you know if hes right? Additional Resources The Subjunctivator!Quiz: Subjunctive or indicative?Conjugate savoir
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