Subjonctif imparfait et plus-que-parfait
French has four subjunctive tenses on paper, but in modern speech only two are used: présent (que je sois) and passé (que j'aie été). The other two — subjonctif imparfait (que je fusse) and subjonctif plus-que-parfait (que j'eusse été) — survived into the 20th century and then quietly retired. You will not say them. You will, however, meet them. They show up in 19th-century novels, in stylized literary prose, in fossilized expressions (Plût au ciel que..., Eussiez-vous su..., Ne fût-ce que...), in pompous formal speeches, and occasionally as a deliberately archaic flourish. The whole goal of this lesson is recognition: when you read qu'il vînt in a Hugo novel, you should know it's just the literary form of qu'il vienne, not panic and look it up. Formation is regular and tied to the passé simple you learned earlier — if you know il vint (passé simple), you can build qu'il vînt in seconds.
What replaces them in modern French — the rule of concordance simplified
In strict 19th-century French, the tense of the subjunctive had to agree with the tense of the main verb. Main verb in present → subj. présent. Main verb in past → subj. imparfait. Main verb in present + completed action → subj. passé. Main verb in past + completed earlier action → subj. plus-que-parfait. So a strict writer would say Je voulais qu'il vînt = I wanted him to come. In modern French — including good newspapers, novels written after about 1950, and absolutely all conversation — the literary tenses are dropped and the présent / passé of the subjunctive cover everything: Je voulais qu'il vienne is the modern phrasing. Active production in the literary tenses is not expected of any French speaker today — even the Académie française doesn't use them in their own bulletins. Recognition, however, is non-negotiable for serious reading.
Subjonctif imparfait — formation from the passé simple
Build it from the 2nd person singular of the passé simple + the literary endings -sse, -sses, -^t, -ssions, -ssiez, -ssent. The third-person singular always carries a circumflex accent on the final vowel — that's the signature of the form. From parler (passé simple tu parlas): que je parlasse, que tu parlasses, qu'il parlât, que nous parlassions, que vous parlassiez, qu'ils parlassent. From finir (passé simple tu finis): que je finisse, que tu finisses, qu'il finît, que nous finissions, que vous finissiez, qu'ils finissent. Note the trap with -ir verbs: que je finisse is identical to the subj. présent form — only qu'il finît with its circumflex stands out. From vendre (tu vendis): qu'il vendît. Irregular: être (tu fus) → qu'il fût; avoir (tu eus) → qu'il eût; venir (tu vins) → qu'il vînt; faire (tu fis) → qu'il fît; voir (tu vis) → qu'il vît; savoir (tu sus) → qu'il sût; pouvoir (tu pus) → qu'il pût; vouloir (tu voulus) → qu'il voulût.
Subjonctif plus-que-parfait — the compound form
Like all compound tenses, it's auxiliary + past participle. Here the auxiliary itself is in the subjonctif imparfait: eusse / eusses / eût / eussions / eussiez / eussent (for avoir verbs) or fusse / fusses / fût / fussions / fussiez / fussent (for être verbs). Examples: qu'il eût parlé = that he had spoken; qu'il fût venu = that he had come; qu'elle eût su = that she had known; qu'ils eussent fini = that they had finished. This tense had two roles in literary French: (1) subjunctive after a past main verb in completed-action contexts — Je regrettais qu'il eût parti (I regretted that he had left) — modern: Je regrettais qu'il soit parti; (2) 'literary conditional' — third-type 'if' clauses in pompous prose: Eussé-je su, je ne fusse point venu = Had I known, I would not have come. (Modern: Si j'avais su, je ne serais pas venu.) The latter usage is sometimes called the conditionnel passé deuxième forme — same form, different label.
The fossilized expressions — these you DO need
Several literary subjunctive forms have crystallized into set phrases that show up even in fairly contemporary writing and the occasional formal speech. Worth memorizing as units: Plût au ciel que... = Would to heaven that... / If only... (Plût is subj. imparf. of plaire.) Plût à Dieu que je l'eusse su! = Would to God that I had known! Ne fût-ce que... = If only / even if only (fût is subj. imparf. of être, with literary inversion). Il viendra demain, ne fût-ce que pour une heure. = He'll come tomorrow, if only for an hour. Fût-il roi... = Even were he king... — concession with inversion. Dussé-je en mourir... = Even were I to die from it... (dussé-je = subj. imparf. of devoir with inversion). Fût-ce... = even if it were. Quoi qu'il en fût = whatever the case was (literary version of quoi qu'il en soit). These are the only literary-subjunctive forms you may want to keep in active vocabulary — not as productive grammar, but as fixed idioms.
Recognition strategy when reading
Three diagnostic tells to spot a literary subjunctive in the wild. (1) A circumflex on the final vowel of a verb in a subordinate clause: qu'il vînt, qu'elle eût, qu'ils fissent. The circumflex is the giveaway — modern French rarely puts circumflexes on conjugated endings (you'll see them on nous fûmes in passé simple, but otherwise they're a flag for archaic forms). (2) The auxiliary forms eût and fût in compound tenses, almost always meaning the same thing as ait or soit: qu'il eût su = qu'il ait su; qu'elle fût venue = qu'elle soit venue. (3) Inversion with -é, -ût, -fût at the start of a clause: Eussé-je su..., Fût-il roi..., Dussé-je mourir.... When you see one of these, mentally replace with the modern equivalent and keep reading — meaning unchanged. The cheat sheet: vînt = vienne; fût = soit; eût = ait; sût = sache; pût = puisse; fît = fasse; vît = voie.
When (and how rarely) you might produce one
Active production is essentially never required. The one situation where a French speaker might still trot one out is for stylistic effect — a witty or pompous flourish, often for humor. Eussé-je su que la réunion fût si longue, je ne fusse point venu. = (mock-pompous:) Had I known the meeting would be so long, I would not have come. The effect is similar to English 'Would that I had known...' — recognizably archaic, used to be funny or grand. Otherwise, every modern French speaker — including journalists, academics, novelists, government officials — uses subj. présent and subj. passé for everything. You should do the same. The point of this lesson is purely so that vînt, fût, eût never trip you up on the page again.
Quick recap
(1) Subj. imparfait and subj. plus-que-parfait are recognition-only in modern French. (2) Modern equivalents: subj. présent and subj. passé cover everything. (3) Form subj. imparfait from the passé simple stem + endings -sse, -sses, -^t, -ssions, -ssiez, -ssent. The 3rd-person singular has a circumflex — the diagnostic sign. (4) Subj. plus-que-parfait = eusse / fusse + past participle — same form as the literary 'second conditionnel passé'. (5) Three keys to spot it when reading: circumflex endings, eût / fût, and inversion phrases like eussé-je, fût-il. (6) Memorize the fossils: Plût au ciel que..., Ne fût-ce que..., Fût-il..., Dussé-je..., Quoi qu'il en fût. (7) Replace every literary form with its modern equivalent in your head and the meaning is unchanged.
