The French past subjunctive is called le subjonctif passé. It is a compound tense used to express uncertainty, emotion, doubt, necessity or possibility about an action that has already been completed. Like the present subjunctive, the past subjunctive is used in subordinate clauses introduced by que.

The past subjunctive is formed using the present subjunctive of avoir or être, followed by the past participle of the main verb.

For example:

• il faut que tu aies fini avant midi (you must have finished before noon)
• je suis content qu’il soit arrivé sain et sauf (I am glad that he arrived safely)

Formation

To form the past subjunctive:

1. choose the correct auxiliary verb (avoir or être) in the present subjunctive
2. add the past participle of the main verb

For most verbs, avoir is used. Some verbs take être, especially verbs of movement and all reflexive verbs. These follow the same rules as in the passé composé.

Examples with avoir:

• que j’aie parlé (that I spoke)
• que tu aies fini (that you finished)
• qu’ils aient vendu (that they sold)

Examples with être:

• que je sois parti (that I left)
• que tu sois arrivé (that you arrived)
• qu’elle soit née (that she was born)

With reflexive verbs:

• je suis étonné qu’elle se soit réveillée si tôt (I’m surprised that she woke up so early)

When to use the past subjunctive

Use the past subjunctive when the verb in the main clause expresses doubt, emotion, necessity, will or opinion, and when the action in the subordinate clause has already happened.

Compare the present and past subjunctive:

• je doute qu’il vienne (I doubt that he is coming)
• je doute qu’il soit venu (I doubt that he came)

Some common phrases that trigger the subjunctive:

• il faut que
• je ne pense pas que
• je suis content que
• je doute que
• bien que
• avant que
• à condition que
• pour que
• vouloir que

Now with the past subjunctive:

• je suis désolé que tu aies perdu ton portefeuille (I’m sorry that you lost your wallet)
• il est possible qu’ils aient oublié notre rendez-vous (it’s possible that they forgot our meeting)
• elle doute que nous ayons compris la question (she doubts that we understood the question)
• je ne crois pas qu’il soit allé à la réunion (I don’t believe that he went to the meeting)
• bien qu’il ait fait de son mieux, il a échoué (although he did his best, he failed)
• à condition que vous soyez partis à l’heure, tout ira bien (provided that you left on time, everything will be fine)

Examples with vouloir que + past subjunctive

The verb vouloir (to want) often triggers the subjunctive when expressing a wish or desire about a completed action.

• je voulais qu’elle ait terminé avant notre arrivée (I wanted her to have finished before our arrival)
• elle veut que tu sois parti avant minuit (she wants you to have left before midnight)
• nous voulions qu’ils aient compris la gravité de la situation (we wanted them to have understood the seriousness of the situation)
• je ne voulais pas qu’il ait vu le message (I didn’t want him to have seen the message)

Agreement rules

As with the passé composé, past participles conjugated with être must agree in gender and number with the subject.

• je suis content qu’elles soient venues (I’m happy that they came)
• il regrette qu’elle soit tombée (he regrets that she fell)

With avoir, agreement only happens when a preceding direct object is present.

• je suis surpris que les lettres que tu as écrites aient été envoyées (I’m surprised that the letters you wrote were sent)