Wishes and necessity in French: je voudrais que and il faut que
You are arranging the use of a shared kitchen this evening. Say what you would like to change and what needs to happen. With je voudrais que or il faut que, give the situation its own subject and use soit, ait or fasse; for your own wish with the same subject, use the infinitive.
Start with familiar building blocks
Je voudrais means ‘I would like’; it softens the statement of a wish, without guaranteeing that someone will agree. Il faut + infinitive expresses a need without naming who must act. Listen to Je fais la cuisine (‘I am cooking’): faire la cuisine means ‘do the cooking’, not ‘make the kitchen’.
The three verbs we will use are être (‘be’), avoir (‘have’) and faire (‘do’). A clause introduced by que can have its own subject, as in a reported message; que by itself does not require the subjunctive.
Je fais la cuisine.
The room, a key and this evening
La cuisine is the kitchen, propre means clean, une clé is a key for a lock, and ce soir is this evening, on the day of speaking. In faire la cuisine, cuisine names the activity of cooking. We will talk about Léa, a third person who is not one of the two speakers.
Agreeing on what must change
Two people discuss their shared kitchen this afternoon. A would like it to be clean; B confirms that cleanliness is necessary. A would also like Léa to cook tonight; B points out that Léa needs a key to get into the kitchen. Listen for the difference between a wish and a requirement.
- A
Je voudrais que la cuisine soit propre.
- B
Il faut que la cuisine soit propre.
- A
Je voudrais que Léa fasse la cuisine ce soir.
- B
Il faut que Léa ait une clé.
A wish about another subject
Je voudrais que la cuisine soit propre means ‘I would like the kitchen to be clean’: je is the person wishing, but la cuisine is the subject of soit. In the next examples, Léa is the subject of ait and fasse. For these singular subjects, être becomes soit, avoir becomes ait, and faire becomes fasse after je voudrais que.
These are present subjunctive forms: they present the desired situation rather than assert that it already holds. English often uses an object plus to (‘I'd like Léa to have…’), but French here uses que + subject + a conjugated verb. Keep que; do not translate English word order directly.
Je voudrais que sujet + soit / ait / fasse
Je voudrais que la cuisine soit propre.
Je voudrais que Léa ait une clé.
Je voudrais que Léa fasse la cuisine ce soir.
A requirement with a named subject
Il faut que la cuisine soit propre means ‘The kitchen needs to be clean’. In il faut que Léa ait une clé, Léa is the person who needs the key; the il in il faut does not mean ‘he’. This impersonal opening stays il faut when we name Léa afterwards.
Use the same three subjunctive forms after il faut que: soit, ait and fasse. The opening changes the message from a wish to a necessity; it is not simply a more polite way of saying the same thing. The present subjunctive can refer to later today, as ce soir shows.
Il faut que sujet + soit / ait / fasse
Il faut que la cuisine soit propre.
Il faut que Léa ait une clé.
Il faut que Léa fasse la cuisine ce soir.
Your own wish: use the infinitive
In Je voudrais avoir une clé, I am both the person expressing the wish and the person who would have the key: with the same subject in this use of vouloir, use the infinitive avoir, without que. Compare Je voudrais que Léa ait une clé: I express the wish, but Léa would have the key in the desired situation. Likewise, Je voudrais faire la cuisine ce soir is my wish to cook; Je voudrais que Léa fasse la cuisine ce soir is my wish for Léa to cook.
Il faut faire la cuisine ce soir leaves the person responsible to context. Il faut que Léa fasse la cuisine ce soir names that person. The impersonal il is not the cook: this contrast is about whether we name the person, not about sharing a subject with il.
Je voudrais avoir / faire + complément
Je voudrais avoir une clé.
Je voudrais que Léa ait une clé.
Je voudrais faire la cuisine ce soir.
Je voudrais que Léa fasse la cuisine ce soir.
Il faut faire la cuisine ce soir.
Il faut que Léa fasse la cuisine ce soir.
Recognize the wider map, practise two uses
Subjonctif is the name of a mood, not a word meaning ‘maybe’. French also uses it in some constructions involving emotion, doubt or judgement; you only need to recognize that wider map here. Que alone does not select it, and we are not learning every trigger or a complete conjugation chart. For production, stay with je voudrais que and il faut que, and the three singular forms soit, ait and fasse.
Change who has the key, then state a need
It is this afternoon. You are speaking to a housemate about Léa, who is absent; tonight means the evening of this same day. Before reading the answers, say these three messages in French: ‘I would like to have a key’; ‘I would like Léa to have a key’; ‘Léa needs to do the cooking tonight’.
Use je voudrais for the two wishes and il faut que for the need. Check the three models in order, then listen and repeat. Can you say which person has the key in each of the first two sentences?
Je voudrais avoir une clé.
Je voudrais que Léa ait une clé.
Il faut que Léa fasse la cuisine ce soir.
Choose the message and its subject
For a wish about another subject, use Je voudrais que Léa ait une clé; for a necessity, Il faut que Léa ait une clé. In these frames, use soit, ait and fasse with the singular subjects practised here. For your own wish with the same subject, use an infinitive: Je voudrais avoir une clé. Il faut + infinitive leaves the person to context; il faut que + subject names it.