'L'Imparfait du Subjonctif': An Important French Literary Tense

How to use the French Imperfect Subjunctive in Formal Writing

The French l'imparfait du subjonctif (the "imperfect subjunctive") is a literary tense used in formal writing, such as literature, journalism, and history texts, and for narration. Like all literary verb forms, you really only need to be able to recognize it, not to use it.

L'imparfait du subjonctif is one of five literary tenses in French. They have virtually disappeared from spoken language, unless the speaker wishes to sound erudite. All five French literary tenses include:

  1. P​assé simple
  2. Passé antérieur
  3. L'imparfait du subjonctif                                        
  4. Plus-que-parfait du subjonctif 
  5. Seconde forme du conditionnel passĂ©

​Examples of the French Imperfect Subjunctive

The imperfect subjunctive is used in a subordinate clause when the main clause is in the past. Its nonliterary equivalent is the present subjunctive.

For example:

  • Il partit pour que nous eussions la salle Ă  nous-mĂŞmes. > He left so that we'd have the room to ourselves.
    Nonliterary equivalent: Il est parti pour que nous ayons la salle Ă  nous-mĂŞmes.
  • Je voulais qu'il parlât Ă  son frère. > I wanted him to talk to his brother.
    Nonliterary equivalent: Je voulais qu'il parle à son frère.
  • Je craignais qu’il fĂ»t mort. > I feared he was dead.
    Nonliterary equivalent: Je craignais qu’il soit mort.
  • Elle voyagea quoiqu’elle n’eĂ»t point d’argent. > She traveled even though she didn’t have any money.
    Nonliterary equivalent: Elle a voyagé quoiqu’elle n’ait pas eu d’argent.

How to Conjugate the French Imperfect Subjunctive Literary Tense

Conjugation of the French l'imparfait du subjonctif is based on the French passĂ© simple ("simple past"), also known as the "preterite" or passĂ© dĂ©fini ("definite past"). PassĂ© simple is the literary equivalent of the everyday passĂ© composĂ©, and, like the imperfect subjunctive, it's used predominantly in formal writing such as literature, journalism, and history texts.

1) For all -er verbs, including stem-changing verbs and the normally irregular verb aller, take the third person singular form of the passĂ© simple as the stem and add the imperfect subjunctive endings. Note that spelling-change verbs like manger and lancer have their spelling irregularity in all of these conjugations.

2) For -ir verbs-re verbs, and irregular verbs, the imperfect subjunctive is formed as follows: third person singular form of the passĂ© simple minus the final t, plus the imperfect subjunctive endings.

Below are the imperfect subjunctive endings and conjugations for:

  • the -er verbs parler ("to speak"), manger ("to eat"), lancer ("to throw"), and aller ("to go");
  • the regular -ir and -re verbs finir ("to finish") and rendre ("to return") respectively;
  • and the irregular verbs avoir ("to have") and venir ("to come").

Indicative Conjugations of the French Imperfect Subjunctive Tense

parler manger lancer aller
3rd person singular passé simple

il parla

il mangea

il lança

il alla

imperfect subjunctive stem

parla-

mangea-

lança-

alla-

Pronoun Ending

...que je

-sse

parlasse mangeasse lançasse allasse

...que tu

-sses

parlasses

mangeasses

lançasses

allasses

...qu'il

-^t parlât

mangeât

lançât allât

...que nous

-ssions

parlassions mangeassions lançassions allassions

...que vous

-ssiez

parlassiez mangeassiez

lançassiez

allassiez

...qu'ils

-ssent

parlassent

mangeassent

lançassent

allassent
finir rendre avoir venir
3rd person singular passé simple

il finit

il rendit

il eut

il vint

imperfect subjunctive stem fini-

rendi-

eu- vin-
Pronoun Ending

...que je

-sse

finisse

rendisse

eusse vinsse

...que tu

-sses

finisses rendisses eusses vinsses

...qu'il

-^t finît rendît eût vînt

...que nous

-ssions

finissions

rendissions

eussions

vinssions

...que vous

-ssiez

finissiez

rendissiez

eussiez

vinssiez

...qu'ils

-ssent

finissent

rendissent

eussent

vinssent

Additional Resources 

French literary tenses
P​assé simple literary tense
PassĂ© antĂ©rieur literary tense
Plus-que-parfait du subjonctif literary tense 
Seconde forme du conditionnel passĂ© literary tense

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Team, ThoughtCo. "'L'Imparfait du Subjonctif': An Important French Literary Tense." ThoughtCo, Dec. 6, 2021, thoughtco.com/imperfect-subjunctive-french-literary-tense-1368860. Team, ThoughtCo. (2021, December 6). 'L'Imparfait du Subjonctif': An Important French Literary Tense. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/imperfect-subjunctive-french-literary-tense-1368860 Team, ThoughtCo. "'L'Imparfait du Subjonctif': An Important French Literary Tense." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/imperfect-subjunctive-french-literary-tense-1368860 (accessed March 28, 2024).