| 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.
| contact privacy statement imprint |
