How to express uncertainty with IL SE PEUT

Have you ever heard the expression “il se peut”? If you haven’t, it expresses uncertainty in French.

There are several ways to express like with “peut-être” (maybe) or “c’est possible” but if you really wish to show you are not sure about something, you’d better use this useful expression “il se peut”.

In this post, we are going to explain what it means exactly, then give you examples and help you memorize it.

What does "il se peut" mean?

To start with, be sure to note the difference between “il peut” and “il se peut”.

In the first case, we are talking about someone who can do something. But, in the second case, it’s an impersonal structure.

Why impersonal? Because it’s no one in particular. It’s the equivalent of “it” in English. Maybe you are more familiar with the impersonal expression “il faut que”?

We dive into more detail in this post.

In other words, “il se peut” means “it might be”.

How to use the expression "il se peut".

What’s the structure and how do you use it? The good news is that the beginning is always the same with “il se peut”. Then, you’’ll add “que” or “qu’” depending on the first letter of your subject (with a vowel or h, it’ll be with the apostrophe.

Therefore, you’ll have the following:

• il se peut que je … 
• il se peut que tu … 
• il se peut qu’il / elle … 
• il se peut que nous … 
• il se peut que vous … 
• il se peut qu’ils / elles … 

The structure is longer in French than it is in English though…There’s another trick that we will tackle in the next section.

Does "il se peut" need the French subjunctive?

The answer is oui. The French expression “il se peut” requires the subjunctive. It makes sense since the subjunctive is a tense usually used to express uncertainty or things we wish.

So, don’t worry, in the next section, I help you conjugate this complex yet useful tense.

How do you conjugate the French subjunctive?

As a reminder, for regular verbs, first, conjugate your verb using the present and the pronoun “ils” or “elles” and remove “ent”.

• dire (to say)   >>>> ils / elles disent >>> dis (root)

As far as the ending is concerned, add the following ending and don’t forget “que” before the subject.

• que je >>> e
• que tu >>> es
• qu’il / elle / on >>> e
• que nous >>> ions
• que vous >>> iez
• qu’ils / elles >>> ent 

With our previous example, conjugating “dire” with the subjunctive, we have:

• que je dise
• que tu dises
• qu’il / elle / on dise
• que nous disions
• que vous disiez
• qu’ils / elles disent

Because for some verbs, the subjunctive is extremely irregular, let’s have a look at some of them.

The subjunctive of the verb ÊTRE

With this everyday verb, you need to memorize its conjugation:

• que je sois
• que tu sois
• qu’il / elle / on soit
• que nous soyons
• que vous soyez
• qu’ils / elles soient

The subjunctive of the verb FAIRE

This verb too is pretty common and you should know it:

• que je fasse
• que tu fasses
• qu’il / elle / on fasse
• que nous fassions
• que vous fassiez
• qu’ils / elles fassent

The subjunctive of the verb PLEUVOIR

Because the weather forecast is far from being certain, knowing the verb to rain in French using the subjunctive will help you. The great news is that there’s only one to remember since it’s an impersonal verb!

• qu’il pleuve

In conclusion, you know by now that the expression “il se peut” expresses uncertainty, that it is followed by “que” or “qu’”, then by the subject and the subjunctive.

You would translate it by “might” in English. Note that if you are even less sure, you’ll prefer il se pourrait”. The structure is exactly the same. Only the meaning varies and emphasis on a bigger uncertainty. 

“il se peut que vous ayez des questions” -  you might have questions. If it’s the case, feel free to ask!