A form to recognise, not to speak
The subjonctif imparfait is the past form of the subjunctive in written French. It appears in narrative texts, in the subordinate clause, when the main clause is in the past and requires a subjunctive.
In modern French it is practically extinct. Nobody uses it in speech, and in writing you only find it in literature, legal texts and deliberately elevated style. In everyday French the present subjunctive takes its place. Your goal is therefore recognition: when you read qu'il partît, you understand qu'il parte.
What literature sounds like
Il fallait qu'il partît avant l'aube.
He had to leave before dawn.
Je ne croyais pas qu'elle fût si jeune.
I didn't think she was so young.
Elle attendait qu'on lui répondît.
She was waiting for someone to answer her.
The forms
There are three patterns, depending on the vowel before the -ss-: -asse for verbs in -er, -isse for most verbs in -ir and -re, -usse for avoir, être and many irregular verbs such as vouloir, pouvoir, savoir. The endings are the same in all three patterns.
The three patterns
| Person | parler | finir | être |
|---|---|---|---|
| que je | parlasse | finisse | fusse |
| que tu | parlasses | finisses | fusses |
| qu'il / elle | parlât | finît | fût |
| que nous | parlassions | finissions | fussions |
| que vous | parlassiez | finissiez | fussiez |
| qu'ils / elles | parlassent | finissent | fussent |
parler, finir, être
Irregular verbs have their own stem but the same endings. The most important ones to recognise:
Irregular verbs
| Infinitive | que je | qu'il |
|---|---|---|
| avoir | eusse | eût |
| être | fusse | fût |
| faire | fisse | fît |
| venir | vinsse | vînt |
| pouvoir | pusse | pût |
| savoir | susse | sût |
| prendre | prisse | prît |
| aller | allasse | allât |
je form and third person singular
Irregular forms in context
Il ordonna qu'on fît venir le médecin.
He ordered that the doctor be sent for.
Nul ne souhaitait qu'elle sût la vérité.
Nobody wanted her to know the truth.
On attendit qu'il vînt de lui-même.
They waited for him to come of his own accord.
The pluperfect subjunctive
For events that came earlier there is a compound form: the auxiliary in the imperfect subjunctive plus the participe passé. Modern French replaces it with the past subjunctive.
How it is built
Literary or modern?
Both columns mean the same. The difference is purely register: the novel on the left, everything you say or write yourself on the right.
The same statement in two registers
| Literary | Today |
|---|---|
| Il voulut qu'elle restât. | Il a voulu qu'elle reste. |
| Bien qu'il eût vingt ans, il paraissait plus âgé. | Bien qu'il ait vingt ans, il paraît plus âgé. |
| Il regrettait qu'elle ne fût pas venue. | Il regrettait qu'elle ne soit pas venue. |
| Personne ne croyait qu'il eût écrit cette lettre. | Personne ne croyait qu'il ait écrit cette lettre. |
Imperfect and pluperfect subjunctive versus present and past subjunctive
Set phrases
A few phrases with the imperfect subjunctive survive in elevated writing and speeches. Recognise them as fixed expressions.
Viens, ne fût-ce que pour un instant.
Come, even if only for a moment.
Il finira ce travail, dût-il y passer la nuit.
He will finish this work, even if he has to spend the night on it.
