Selon Lawless French dans le petit quiz C-1 que je prends en ce moment, pour « By the time you were ready, the bus had left, » c’est correct dire, « Le temps que tu sois prête, le bus était déjà parti, » mais à mon avis ça devrait être plutôt, « Le temps que tu aies étée prête, le bus était déjà parti.»
Subjonctif présent versus subjonctif passé
- « Back to Q&A Forum
- « Previous questionNext question »
Michael D.Kwiziq community member
Subjonctif présent versus subjonctif passé
This question relates to:French lesson "Le temps que + the subjunctive mood (Le Subjonctif) = By the time that in French"
Asked 1 year ago
Past subjunctive is rarely used in French speech. When it is, it seems to me to be to emphasise the ‘event’ nature of the past, completed event.
Putting aside ‘le temps que’, the sentence ‘you were ready for the bus’ would be in imparfait.
Être is far more likely to be used in imparfait, not passé composé which might call up the past subjunctive, and to my knowledge and understanding the present subjunctive would be used by most native French speakers in this context in modern speech.
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Ask a question
Find your French level for FREE
Test your French to the CEFR standard
Find your French level