In this lesson, we study the past subjunctive tense in French.
We have previously studied the subjunctive mood and the present subjunctive tense.
The subjunctive mood is used to express opinion, possibilities, and feelings, such as fear, doubt, hope, desire, etc.
We have also studied the compound past tense in the indicative mood. The compound past tense is used to describe events that happened and completed in the past or happened in the past and continue in the present.
Now, we will study the cases when we want to express opinions, possibilities, and feelings, such as fear, doubt, hope, desire, etc., about something that happened and was completed in the past or happened in the past and continues in the present.
In other words, we want to describe the compound past but in the subjunctive mood, i.e., the past subjunctive tense.
Conjugation
The past subjunctive, similar to the compound past in the indicative, uses the past participle. However, the only difference is that the auxiliary verb, whether it is “avoir” or “être,” is conjugated in the subjunctive.
Let us look at some examples of verbs conjugated using the auxiliary “avoir”:
| -er ending e.g., parlare | -ir ending e.g., finir | -re ending e.g., vendre | ||
| j’ | aie | parlé | fini | vendu |
| tu | aies | |||
| il/elle/on | ait | |||
| nous | ayons | |||
| vous | ayez | |||
| ils/elles | aient |
Similarly, these are some examples of verbs conjugated using the auxiliary “être”:
| -er ending e.g., aller (to go) | -ir ending e.g., partir (to leave) | -re ending e.g., descender (to go down) | ||
| je | sois | allé(e) | parti(e) | descendu(e) |
| tu | sois | allé(e) | parti(e) | descendu(e) |
| il/on | soit | allé | parti | descendu |
| elle | soit | allée | partie | descendue |
| nous | soyons | allé(e)s | parti(e)s | descendu(e)s |
| vous | soyez | allé(e)s | parti(e)s | descendu(e)s |
| ils/elles | soient | allé(e)s | parti(e)s | descendu(e)s |
Examples
Here are some more examples of the past subjunctive tense in French in context:
| C’est bien que vous vous soyez détendu après le match. | It is good that you have relaxed after the match. |
| Je suis content que tu aies apprécié ton voyage. | I’m glad that you have enjoyed your trip. |
| Ça me rend triste qu’il ne m’ait pas appelé. | It makes me sad that he hasn’t called me. |
| Je doute que nous ayons vu votre maison avant aujourd’hui. | I doubt that we have seen your house before today. |
| Je suis content que tu sois arrivé. | I am happy that you have arrived. |
| Je ne crois pas qu’ils aient vécu ici. | I don’t believe they have lived here. |
Next: Imperfect Indicative Tense
Other lessons in Level V:
