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18.2.4.1 Sequence of tenses with subjonctif in literature style

The following table shows the system of the high literary style. You will find this only in older texts of a high style. Therefore, we suggest that you have a look at it, but it is not necessary to study this more in detail.

Overview     tenses verb of involvement reported event is       requires before the involv. at the same time after the involv. présent futur simple futur composé conditionel simple passe composé* subjonctif craindre vouloir exiger redouter souhaiter passé composé du subjonctif Je crains / craindrai / craindrais qu' il soit venu présent du subjonctif Je crains / craindrai / craindrais qu' il vienne présent du subjonctif Je crains / craindrai / craindrais qu' il vienne indicatif croire penser supposer espérer the usual rules of the past tenses apply     imparfait passé simple plus-que-parfait subjonctif craindre vouloir exiger redouter souhaiter plus-que-parfait du subjonctif Je craignais / J' ai craint / Je craignis qu' il fût venu imparfait du subjonctif Je craignais / J' ai craint / Je craignis qu' il vînt imparfait du subjonctif* Je craignais / J' ai craint / Je craignis qu' il vînt indicatif croire penser supposer espérer plus-que-parfait Je pensais / J'ai pensé / Je pensai qu' il était venu imparfait Je pensais / J'ai pensé / Je pensai qu' il venait conditionnel Je pensais / J'ai pensé / Je pensai qu' il viendrait

As you can see the system in the subjonctif is parallel to the the system of the indicatif. Only that the indicatif-system is still active, unlike the subjonctif-system. The subjonctiv imparfait and the subjonctif imparfait is not used anymore and thus, the system for the subjonctif is not complete anymore. The spoken language forms in a more convinient and easy way as we will see in a minute.

* Please remember that the passé composé is a past tense in normal spoken French, even though it is not in most other languages. However, in literary style (as described here) it is a present tense also in French (as it is in Spanish or Italian). This can only be the case, if the passé simple is used as the corresponding past tense.



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