Subjonctif Imparfait et Plus-que-parfait – Literary Past Subjunctive

que je parlasse

that I spoke / that I might speak (imperfect subjunctive of 'parler')

que tu parlasses

that you spoke (sing.)

qu'il/elle parlât

that he/she spoke

que nous parlassions

that we spoke

que vous parlassiez

that you spoke (pl./formal)

qu'ils/elles parlassent

that they spoke

que j'eusse parlé

that I had spoken (pluperfect subjunctive with 'avoir')

que tu eusses parlé

that you had spoken (sing.)

qu'il eût parlé

that he had spoken

que nous eussions parlé

that we had spoken

que vous eussiez parlé

that you had spoken (pl./formal)

qu'ils eussent parlé

that they had spoken

que je fusse

that I was / that I were (imperfect subjunctive of 'être')

que tu fusses

that you were (sing.)

qu'il/elle fût

that he/she was

que nous fussions

that we were

que vous fussiez

that you were (pl./formal)

qu'ils/elles fussent

that they were

que j'eusse été

that I had been (pluperfect subjunctive of 'être')

qu'il eût été

that he had been

que j'allasse

that I went (imperfect subjunctive of 'aller'; rare literary tense)

qu'il allât

that he went

que je fisse

that I did / that I made (imperfect subjunctive of 'faire')

qu'il fît

that he did / that he made

que je visse

that I saw (imperfect subjunctive of 'voir')

qu'il vît

that he saw

que je vinsse

that I came (imperfect subjunctive of 'venir')

qu'il vînt

that he came

que je pusse

that I could / that I might be able to (imperfect subjunctive of 'pouvoir', literary)

que tu pusses

that you could (sing.) (imperfect subjunctive of 'pouvoir')

Subjonctif imparfait régulier -er

regular '-er' verbs in the imperfect subjunctive (e.g. chanter, danser)

Subjonctif imparfait régulier -ir

regular '-ir' verbs in the imperfect subjunctive (e.g. partir, sentir)

Subjonctif imparfait régulier -re

'-re' verbs in the imperfect subjunctive (e.g. prendre, attendre)

Subjonctif plus-que-parfait avec avoir

pluperfect subjunctive with the auxiliary 'avoir' (eusse, eusses, eût...)

Subjonctif plus-que-parfait avec être

pluperfect subjunctive with the auxiliary 'être' (fusse, fusses, fût...)

Si je fusse allé...

Had I gone... / If I had gone... (literary construction with the pluperfect subjunctive)

Qu'il fût sage!

May he be wise! / If only he were wise! (exclamation with the imperfect subjunctive)

Il fallut que...

it was necessary that... (passé simple, literary)

Usage littéraire et historique

literary and historical use: these tenses appear mainly in literature and older texts and are almost never used in modern speech

Accent circonflexe sur 'û' à la 3e personne

the circumflex accent (ˆ) on the 3rd person singular of the imperfect/pluperfect subjunctive (qu'il fût, qu'il dût)

Concordance des temps avec imparfait

sequence of tenses: when the main verb is in a past tense, the subordinate subjunctive takes the imperfect or pluperfect subjunctive in formal writing

Douter que + subjonctif imparfait

to doubt that... + imperfect subjunctive