One form, three jobs
The pluperfect subjunctive is eût or fût plus a past participle. In literature, older essays and very formal speeches it does three jobs that modern French spreads across three different forms. Your goal is to spot each job as you read and translate it into the modern form.
The pattern to spot
Three jobs, three modern equivalents
| Job | Literary | Today |
|---|---|---|
| Condition (after si) | si j'eusse su | si j'avais su |
| Result in the main clause | je ne fusse pas venu | je ne serais pas venu |
| Clause with que | qu'elle eût compris | qu'elle ait compris |
In past unreal conditions
You will meet the form most often in conditions about the past. It can sit in the si clause, in the main clause, or in both. All four versions below mean exactly the same: If I had known, I wouldn't have come. Only the solemnity rises.
From everyday to classic
Si j'avais su, je ne serais pas venu.
If I had known, I wouldn't have come.
Today's norm: plus-que-parfait + conditionnel passé.
Si j'eusse su, je ne serais pas venu.
If I had known, I wouldn't have come.
Literary form in the si clause only.
Si j'avais su, je ne fusse pas venu.
If I had known, I wouldn't have come.
Literary form in the main clause only.
S'il l'eût su, il eût agi autrement.
Had he known, he would have acted differently.
In both halves, classical style.
Conditions without si
Formal prose drops si and swaps the auxiliary and the subject pronoun. The result is a condition or a concession, depending on context. A noun subject stays in front and is picked up again by a pronoun.
Eût-il été plus prudent, il n'aurait rien perdu.
Had he been more careful, he would have lost nothing.
Condition: = S'il avait été plus prudent.
L'eût-elle voulu, elle n'aurait pas pu partir.
Even if she had wanted to, she couldn't have left.
Concession: = Même si elle l'avait voulu.
Le ministre eût-il démissionné, rien n'aurait changé.
Even if the minister had resigned, nothing would have changed.
Noun in front, pronoun after the auxiliary.
Add to this the fixed phrase n'eût été + noun. It means but for or had it not been for, and it survives in today's press.
N'eût été la pluie, nous serions partis à l'aube.
Had it not been for the rain, we would have left at dawn.
Il eût mieux valu se taire.
It would have been better to keep quiet.
Just as common: il eût fallu, on eût dit.
In clauses with que
When a main clause in the past calls for the subjunctive and the event in the que clause happened earlier, a literary text uses eût or fût + participle. Today the subjonctif passé takes its place.
Same statement, two eras
Literary
Elle doutait qu'il eût compris.
She doubted that he had understood.
Bien qu'elle fût arrivée la première, on la fit attendre.
Although she had arrived first, they made her wait.
Today
Elle doutait qu'il ait compris.
She doubted that he had understood.
Bien qu'elle soit arrivée la première, on l'a fait attendre.
Although she had arrived first, they made her wait.
