French grammar · Advanced
Le Plus-Que-Parfait du Subjonctif: Forms, Uses, and Why You Only Read It
The pluperfect subjunctive, le plus-que-parfait du subjonctif, is the literary counterpart of the past subjunctive. It is built from the imperfect subjunctive of avoir or être plus a past participle: qu'il eût compris, qu'elle fût partie. Modern French replaces it with the past subjunctive or the indicative plus-que-parfait, so it is a reading tense rather than a speaking one.
Je regrettais qu'il fût parti si vite.
I was sorry that he had left so quickly.
What it is
French has four subjunctive tenses, and two of them left the spoken language centuries ago. The pluperfect subjunctive is the more visible survivor: it expresses an action completed before a past moment, in a clause where the subjunctive is required. Its distinguishing marks are the forms eût and fût, with a circumflex that separates them from eut and fut in the indicative.
Il aurait fallu qu'elle eût accepté plus tôt. — She would have had to accept sooner.
How to spot it
Look for eusse, eusses, eût, eussions, eussiez, eussent or fusse, fusses, fût, fussions, fussiez, fussent in front of a participle. Any of those twelve forms is unambiguous: nothing else in French looks like them.
- Bien qu'il eût promis, il ne vint pas. — Although he had promised, he didn't come.
- Elle craignait qu'ils ne fussent partis sans elle. — She was afraid they had left without her.
- C'était le plus beau roman qu'il eût écrit. — It was the finest novel he had written.
- Quoi qu'elle eût dit, personne ne l'écoutait. — Whatever she had said, nobody was listening.
The circumflex on eût and fût is not decorative. Qu'il eut fini is an indicative passé antérieur; qu'il eût fini is a subjunctive.
Pluperfect Subjunctive Quick Reference
The four subjunctive tenses and their register
| Tense | Form | Register | Modern equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Présent | qu'il parle | current | — |
| Passé | qu'il ait parlé | current | — |
| Imparfait | qu'il parlât | literary | qu'il parle |
| Plus-que-parfait | qu'il eût parlé | literary | qu'il ait parlé |
| Auxiliary avoir | eusse, eût, eussent | literary | aie, ait, aient |
| Auxiliary être | fusse, fût, fussent | literary | sois, soit, soient |
Common Pluperfect Subjunctive Examples in French
Where the pluperfect subjunctive turns up in written French:
After a Past Trigger Verb
- Je doutais qu'il eût compris la question.
- I doubted he had understood the question.
- Elle regrettait que nous fussions arrivés en retard.
- She regretted that we had arrived late.
- Il était possible qu'ils eussent perdu la lettre.
- It was possible they had lost the letter.
The trigger is an ordinary subjunctive trigger — doubt, emotion, possibility. Only the tense of the subjunctive is literary.
After Literary Conjunctions
- Bien qu'elle eût tout prévu, rien ne marcha.
- Although she had planned everything, nothing worked.
- Avant qu'il fût entré, la salle était silencieuse.
- Before he had come in, the room was silent.
- Sans qu'on l'eût remarqué, il quitta la pièce.
- Without anyone having noticed, he left the room.
Bien que, avant que, and sans que take the subjunctive in every register; in a novel that subjunctive may be one of the literary tenses.
After a Superlative
- C'était la seule décision qu'il eût jamais regrettée.
- It was the only decision he had ever regretted.
- Ce fut le pire hiver qu'ils eussent connu.
- It was the worst winter they had known.
- Le plus long voyage qu'elle eût fait.
- The longest journey she had made.
Superlatives and words like seul, premier, and dernier introduce a subjunctive in careful French.
Literary Unreal Conditions
- Si j'eusse su, je me fusse tu.
- Had I known, I would have kept quiet.
- S'il eût voulu, il eût réussi.
- Had he wanted to, he would have succeeded.
- Eût-il insisté, elle aurait cédé.
- Had he insisted, she would have given in.
This is the highest register available in French, found in classical authors and pastiche rather than in contemporary prose.
How the Pluperfect Subjunctive Is Built
The construction is entirely regular. What takes practice is recognising the two auxiliary paradigms and reading the accents correctly.
Imperfect Subjunctive of the Auxiliary Plus Participle
Take avoir or être in the imperfect subjunctive and add the past participle. Avoir gives eusse, eusses, eût, eussions, eussiez, eussent; être gives fusse, fusses, fût, fussions, fussiez, fussent.
Il fallait qu'elle eût terminé avant midi.
She had to have finished before noon.
eusse / fusse plus the participle.
Auxiliary Choice and Agreement Are Unchanged
The verb keeps whatever auxiliary it takes elsewhere, and être participles still agree with the subject. Qu'elle fût partie, qu'ils fussent revenus, qu'elles se fussent trompées.
On craignait qu'elles ne fussent tombées.
It was feared they had fallen.
Same auxiliary, same agreement.
The Circumflex Carries the Mood
Eut and fut without an accent are indicative passé simple forms; eût and fût with one are subjunctive. In the third person singular that accent is the only difference between two completely different moods.
Dès qu'il eut fini, il sortit ; on doutait qu'il eût fini.
As soon as he had finished, he went out; it was doubted that he had finished.
No accent, indicative; accent, subjunctive.
It Marks Anteriority Inside a Past Frame
The tense does two things at once: it satisfies the subjunctive requirement, and it places the action before the past moment of the main clause. That is why it needs a past main verb to lean on.
Je ne croyais pas qu'il eût déjà lu le rapport.
I didn't think he had already read the report.
Past main clause, earlier subordinate action.
Modern French Substitutes Two Simpler Tenses
In current usage the pluperfect subjunctive is replaced by the past subjunctive after a subjunctive trigger, and by the indicative plus-que-parfait after si. Nothing is lost except the register.
Je regrettais qu'il soit parti si vite.
I was sorry he had left so quickly.
qu'il eût parlé → qu'il ait parlé.
Common Mistakes with Pluperfect Subjunctive
Incorrect: Je doutais qu'il eut compris. — I doubted he had understood.
Correct: Je doutais qu'il eût compris. — I doubted he had understood.
Without the circumflex, eut is the indicative passé simple, which cannot follow douter que. The accent is what marks the subjunctive in the third person singular.
Incorrect: Je craignais qu'il eusse été parti. — I was afraid he had left.
Correct: Je craignais qu'il fût parti. — I was afraid he had left.
Only one auxiliary is allowed. Stacking eusse été in front of a participle produces a form that does not exist, and the third person needs eût or fût rather than eusse in any case.
Incorrect: Elle regrettait qu'il eût partie. — She regretted that he had left.
Correct: Elle regrettait qu'il fût parti. — She regretted that he had left.
Partir takes être, so the auxiliary is fût rather than eût, and the participle agrees with the masculine subject rather than taking an -e.
Incorrect: Il faut qu'il eût fini avant midi. — He has to have finished before noon.
Correct: Il faut qu'il ait fini avant midi. — He has to have finished before noon.
A present main verb calls for the past subjunctive. The pluperfect subjunctive belongs after a main verb that is itself in a past or conditional tense.
Pluperfect Subjunctive Paradigms
Two auxiliary paradigms generate every form, and the third table shows the two auxiliaries on their own so the accents are easy to compare.
Verbs With Avoir
One participle, six forms of the auxiliary. The third person singular carries a circumflex.
| Pronoun | parler | finir | comprendre |
|---|---|---|---|
| que je / j' | eusse parlé | eusse fini | eusse compris |
| que tu | eusses parlé | eusses fini | eusses compris |
| qu'il / elle / on | eût parlé | eût fini | eût compris |
| que nous | eussions parlé | eussions fini | eussions compris |
| que vous | eussiez parlé | eussiez fini | eussiez compris |
| qu'ils / elles | eussent parlé | eussent fini | eussent compris |
Que j'eusse elides the pronoun: que j'eusse, never que je eusse.
Verbs With Être
The participle agrees with the subject, as it does in every compound tense.
| Pronoun | partir | venir | se taire |
|---|---|---|---|
| que je / j' | fusse parti(e) | fusse venu(e) | me fusse tu(e) |
| que tu | fusses parti(e) | fusses venu(e) | te fusses tu(e) |
| qu'il / elle / on | fût parti(e) | fût venu(e) | se fût tu(e) |
| que nous | fussions parti(e)s | fussions venu(e)s | nous fussions tu(e)s |
| que vous | fussiez parti(e)(s) | fussiez venu(e)(s) | vous fussiez tu(e)(s) |
| qu'ils / elles | fussent parti(e)s | fussent venu(e)s | se fussent tu(e)s |
Se taire has the participle tu, which is spelled like the pronoun tu but is unrelated to it.
The Two Auxiliaries Compared
Set against the indicative, the subjunctive forms are distinguished by the vowel and, in the third person singular, by the circumflex.
| Pronoun | avoir (subj. imparfait) | être (subj. imparfait) | avoir (passé simple) | être (passé simple) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | eusse | fusse | eus | fus |
| tu | eusses | fusses | eus | fus |
| il / elle / on | eût | fût | eut | fut |
| nous | eussions | fussions | eûmes | fûmes |
| vous | eussiez | fussiez | eûtes | fûtes |
| ils / elles | eussent | fussent | eurent | furent |
The two right-hand columns are indicative and combine with a participle to make the passé antérieur, not a subjunctive.
Eût and Fût Outside the Subjunctive
The same forms serve a second function that has nothing to do with subordinate clauses, and this is where a reader is most likely to meet them.
The second form of the conditional perfect
In literary French the pluperfect subjunctive can stand in for the conditional perfect in a main clause. J'eusse aimé means the same as j'aurais aimé, one register higher.
- J'eusse aimé vous rencontrer plus tôt.
- I would have liked to meet you sooner.
- Il eût mieux valu se taire.
- It would have been better to say nothing.
- On eût dit une statue.
- You would have thought it was a statue.
- Elle eût pu refuser.
- She could have refused.
On eût dit and il eût fallu survive as set phrases and are the two forms a modern reader meets most often.
Inverted conditions with no si
The form can open a clause by inversion, replacing si altogether. Eût-il su means if he had known.
- Eût-il su la vérité, il se serait tu.
- Had he known the truth, he would have said nothing.
- Fût-elle venue, rien n'aurait changé.
- Even if she had come, nothing would have changed.
- N'eût été son aide, j'aurais échoué.
- Had it not been for his help, I would have failed.
N'eût été is a fixed formula meaning if it had not been for, and it is still used in formal writing.
Literary si clauses
Classical French allows the pluperfect subjunctive in the si clause as well, giving a sentence with the form in both halves.
- Si j'eusse deviné, je ne fusse pas venu.
- Had I guessed, I would not have come.
- Si vous l'eussiez voulu, tout eût été différent.
- Had you wished it, everything would have been different.
Modern French writes si j'avais deviné, je ne serais pas venu, and this is the only version you should produce yourself.
Pluperfect Subjunctive FAQs
- How do you form the pluperfect subjunctive in French?
- Take the imperfect subjunctive of avoir or être — eusse, eusses, eût, eussions, eussiez, eussent or fusse, fusses, fût, fussions, fussiez, fussent — and add the past participle. Que j'eusse parlé, qu'elle fût partie.
- Is the pluperfect subjunctive still used?
- Only in literature and in a few fossilised phrases such as on eût dit and il eût fallu. Everywhere else it has been replaced by the past subjunctive after a trigger and by the indicative plus-que-parfait after si.
- What is the difference between qu'il eut fini and qu'il eût fini?
- The circumflex changes the mood. Eut is the passé simple of avoir, making an indicative passé antérieur; eût is the imperfect subjunctive, making a pluperfect subjunctive. Dès qu'il eut fini is indicative, je doutais qu'il eût fini is subjunctive.
- What is the second form of the conditional perfect?
- It is the pluperfect subjunctive used in a main clause with the meaning of a conditional perfect. J'eusse préféré rester means the same as j'aurais préféré rester, and il eût mieux valu the same as il aurait mieux valu.
- Should I learn the pluperfect subjunctive?
- Learn to recognise it, because it appears constantly in classic novels and would otherwise stop you mid-sentence. There is no need to produce it: writing qu'il ait fini instead of qu'il eût fini is correct modern French in every context.