The French imperfect subjunctive mood (l’imparfait du subjonctif) is used mostly in literature and formal writing. It’s used for verbs, conjunctions and impersonal expressions which require the subjunctive mood and where the action in the subordinate clause is related to the past but not complete.

L’imparfait du subjonctif

Here are two example sentences using the imperfect subjunctive. In conversational French and informal writing, both the present subjunctive and past subjunctive are used in the place of the imperfect subjunctive. These sentences are in parentheses below.

Je voulais qu’il partît. I wanted him to leave.
(Je voulais qu’il parte -> present subjunctive)

Je craignais qu’il fût mort. I was afraid he was dead.
(Je craignais qu’il soit mort -> past subjunctive)

For these sentences, the imperfect subjunctive is used because the actions being described (him leaving and him dying) are not completed. If the action were completed, the pluperfect subjunctive (plus-que-parfait du subjonctif) would be used.

Imperfect subjunctive conjugations

The endings for the imperfect subjunctive are the same for all French verbs.

que je…	-sse
que tu…	-sses
qu’il/elle…	-^t
que nous…	-ssions
que vous…	-ssiez
qu’ils/elles…	-ssent

ER verbs

For regular ER verbs, add the endings to the il (third-person singular) form of the passé simple stem. For spelling change verbs, the spelling changes are kept in all the verb forms.

	parler -> parla-	aller -> alla-	avancer -> avança-	changer -> change-
je/j’	parlasse	allasse	avançasse	changeasse
tu	parlasses	allasses	avançasses	changeasses
il, elle	parlât	allât	avançât	changeât
nous	parlassions	allassions	avançassions	changeassions
vous	parlassiez	allassiez	avançassiez	changeassiez
ils, elles	parlassent	allassent	avançassent	changeassent

IR verbs

For both regular and irregular IR verbs, add the imperfect subjunctive endings to the il form of the passé simple minus the final -t.

	finir -> fini	sortir -> sorti	ouvrir -> ouvri	avoir -> eu
je/j’	finisse	sortisse	ouvrisse	eusse
tu	finisses	sortisses	ouvrisses	eusses
il, elle	finît	sortît	ouvrît	eût
nous	finissions	sortissions	ouvrissions	eussions
vous	finissiez	sortissiez	ouvrissiez	eussiez
ils, elles	finissent	sortissent	ouvrissent	eussent

RE verbs

For both regular and irregular RE verbs, add the imperfect subjunctive endings to the il form of the passé simple minus the final -t.

	vendre -> vendi	prendre -> pri	être – fu	faire – fi
je	vendisse	prisse	fusse	fisse
tu	vendisses	prisses	fusses	fisses
il, elle	vendît	prît	fût	fît
nous	vendissions	prissions	fussions	fissions
vous	vendissiez	prissiez	fussiez	fissiez
ils, elles	vendissent	prissent	fussent	fissent

French verb tenses and moods

David Issokson Founder & French Teacher at FrenchLearner.com

David Issokson is the founder of FrenchLearner.com, where he’s been helping students master French through vocabulary, grammar, and cultural lessons since 2012.

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