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Conjugation
Objective: Combine subjunctive helper verbs with past participles to evaluate past events, and choose the past subjunctive whenever the subordinate action precedes the main clause.
| Trigger family | Direct statement | Past subjunctive |
|---|---|---|
| Emotion | Tu es venu. | Je suis content que tu sois venu. |
| Possibility | Elle a fini. | Il est possible qu'elle ait fini. |
| Emotion (regret) | Nous n'avons pas pu venir. | Je regrette que nous n'ayons pas pu venir. |
| Negated opinion | Il a dit la vérité. | Je ne crois pas qu'il ait dit la vérité. |
| Concession |
When the subordinate action is already complete at the time of the main clause, the past subjunctive replaces the present subjunctive.
Regretter que triggers the subjunctive, and the auxiliary avoir takes its subjunctive form ayons before the past participle.
A bare past-subjunctive fragment built on the auxiliary être, with the participle agreeing with the feminine subject.
A bare past-subjunctive fragment built on the auxiliary avoir, in which the participle remains invariable.
The emotion trigger takes the subjunctive, and the subordinate action is already complete.
Avoir in the third-person subjunctive becomes ait before the past participle.
The concession bien que requires the subjunctive, and the auxiliary avoir appears as ait.
7 exercises · about 11 minutes
| Bien qu'ils soient partis tôt, ils ont raté le train. |
| Necessity | Elle a signé le contrat. | Il faut qu'elle ait signé le contrat. |
Bien que requires the subjunctive, and the auxiliary être takes its subjunctive form soit before the past participle.
Il est possible que triggers the subjunctive, and the auxiliary avoir becomes ait in the third-person singular form.
Douter que takes the subjunctive, and the auxiliary avoir appears in its subjunctive form ait before the past participle.
The auxiliary avoir takes its first-person plural subjunctive form ayons in the negative past subjunctive.
The trigger douter que introduces the past subjunctive ait compris, built on the auxiliary avoir.
The auxiliary être takes its third-person singular subjunctive form soit, and the participle agrees with the feminine subject.