Imparfait du subjonctif – Subjunctive Imperfect (Literary)
The imparfait du subjonctif is a literary tense used to express the same ideas as the present subjunctive, but in a past time frame.
It appears almost exclusively in formal literature, historical writing, and very formal speech.
In modern spoken French, it is replaced by the present subjunctive or the plus-que-parfait du subjonctif in context.
Mood:
The subjunctive mood expresses doubt, emotion, possibility, necessity, or hypothetical situations, but here it is applied to the past.
- Mood: Subjunctive (uncertainty, emotion, hypothetical in a past context)
Usage:
- After verbs and expressions that require the subjunctive, when the main verb is in a past tense:
Il fallait qu’elle vînt immédiatement.
(It was necessary that she come immediately.) - In conditional or hypothetical literary sentences:
Si j’eusse su qu’il fût là…
(If I had known that he was there…) - To maintain past-time sequence in formal writing.
Formation:
Formed from the passé simple stem of the verb, plus the subjunctive imperfect endings:
- -sse, -sses, -^t, -ssions, -ssiez, -ssent
(^t means no extra letter, just the stem + t)
Conjugation Examples:
Parler (to speak) – regular -er verb:
| Person | Form | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Je | parlasse | that I spoke |
| Tu | parlasses | that you spoke |
| Il/Elle | parlât | that he/she spoke |
| Nous | parlassions | that we spoke |
| Vous | parlassiez | that you spoke |
| Ils/Elles | parlassent | that they spoke |
Finir (to finish) – regular -ir verb:
| Person | Form | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Je | finisse | that I finished |
| Tu | finisses | that you finished |
| Il/Elle | finît | that he/she finished |
| Nous | finissions | that we finished |
| Vous | finissiez | that you finished |
| Ils/Elles | finissent | that they finished |
Irregular verbs:
- être → que je fusse, que tu fusses, qu’il fût, que nous fussions, que vous fussiez, qu’ils fussent
- avoir → que j’eusse, que tu eusses, qu’il eût, que nous eussions, que vous eussiez, qu’ils eussent
- venir → que je vinsse, que tu vinsses, qu’il vînt, que nous vinssions, que vous vinssiez, qu’ils vinssent
Time Expressions in Literature:
- il fallait que (it was necessary that)
- bien que (although)
- avant que (before)
- pour que (so that)
- sans que (without)
Examples:
- Il voulait que nous finissions avant midi.
(He wanted us to finish before noon.) – Literary form with imparfait du subjonctif. - Je doutais qu’elle fût capable de le faire.
(I doubted that she was capable of doing it.) - Ils craignaient qu’il ne vînt pas.
(They feared that he would not come.)
Modern Usage Note:
In everyday speech, the imparfait du subjonctif has been almost entirely replaced by the present subjunctive or the plus-que-parfait du subjonctif when referring to the past. It survives mostly in classic literature and formal historical texts.
