Subjonctif passé

Summary

The past subjunctive marks a completed action under a subjunctive trigger, formed with the present subjunctive of avoir or être plus the past participle.

Explanation

The subjonctif passé is used in exactly the same que-clauses as the present subjunctive — after expressions of will, emotion, doubt or necessity, and after certain conjunctions — but it marks an action that is completed or prior to the main verb rather than simultaneous or still to come. It is, in other words, the subjunctive's way of pointing to a finished event: not what may happen, but what (it is supposed) has already happened.

It is a compound tense, formed with the présent du subjonctif of the auxiliary avoir or être plus the past participle: que j'aie mangé, que tu aies mangé, qu'il ait mangé, que nous ayons mangé, que vous ayez mangé, qu'ils aient mangé; and with être que je sois parti(e), que tu sois parti(e), qu'il soit parti, que nous soyons parti(e)s. The choice of auxiliary and the agreement of the participle follow exactly the same rules as the passé composé.

The contrast with the subjonctif présent is purely temporal. The present subjunctive marks an action simultaneous with or later than the main verb (je suis content que tu viennes, 'that you are coming / will come'), whereas the past subjunctive marks one already completed (je suis content que tu sois venu, 'that you have come / came'). The trigger and the mood are identical; only the time-relation to the main clause changes. You meet it after bien que and quoique, often after avant que, and after à condition que, jusqu'à ce que and verbs of emotion or doubt — whenever the subordinate action is finished.

The pitfalls are three. First, do not confuse the subjunctive auxiliary with the indicative: it is que j'aie compris, not *que j'ai compris, and que nous ayons, not *que nous avons. Second, respect être and participle agreement just as in the passé composé (qu'elle soit venue, qu'ils soient partis). Third, do not reach for the present subjunctive when the action is clearly over: if the subordinate event precedes the main one, the past subjunctive is required.

Rule of thumb: present subjunctive of the auxiliary plus the past participle expresses a completed action under a subjunctive trigger — use it instead of the present subjunctive whenever the subordinate action happens before the main one.

Examples

Je suis content que tu sois venu. — I am glad that you came. (sois venu marks a completed action (être auxiliary, agreement), hence the past subjunctive rather than que tu viennes.)

Bien qu'il ait fini, il reste au bureau. — Although he has finished, he is staying at the office. (The conjunction bien que takes the subjunctive; ait fini (avoir) shows the action is already complete.)

Je doute qu'elle ait compris. — I doubt that she understood. (Subjunctive auxiliary ait, not the indicative a; douter triggers the mood and the action is prior.)

Il est possible qu'ils soient déjà partis. — It is possible that they have already left. (être auxiliary with plural agreement (partis); déjà underlines the completed, prior action.)

C'est dommage que tu n'aies pas pu venir. — It is a pity that you could not come. (Negative past subjunctive: aies (subjunctive of avoir) framing the ne... pas around the auxiliary.)

Common mistakes

Prerequisites

• Subjonctif présent
• Passé composé

Related rules

• Subjonctif présent
• Passé composé
• Past participle formation
• Subjunctive triggers