The concordance of tenses in French

 

 

 

The concordance of tenses in French is the set of rules that govern the choice of tense and mode of the subordinate clause in relation to the main clause.

The concordance of tenses therefore concerns complex sentences, that is to say sentences in which there is a main clause and a subordinate clause.

In this post we are going to learn :

• The concordance of tenses: anteriority, simultaneity, posterity
• The concordance of tenses in the subjunctive
• The concordance of tenses for the hypothesis and the condition

What is main clause and subordinate clause in a sentence?

 

Je pense qu’il pleuvra demain. I think i twill rain tomorrow

 In this sentence, “je pense” is the main clause and “qu’il pleuvra demain” is the subordinate one.

The subordinate verb must agree with the main verb, depending on whether anteriority, simultaneity or posteriority is expressed.

Je pense qu’il sera trop tôt. I think it will be too early

 Here, the main verb is in the present indicative. In the subordinate clause, we logically use the simple future of the indicative, because the action is posterior (“il sera trop tôt. avant“)

However, to respect the concordance of tenses, it is necessary to respect not only the logic of chronology (previous, simultaneous or subsequent action), but also certain grammatical rules. This is particularly the case when the main verb is in the past tense.

Je pensais qu’il serait trop tôt. I thought it would be too early

Here, the main verb is in the past tense, more precisely in the imperfect tense. In the subordinate clause, it is grammatically impossible to use the simple future tense.

Je pensais qu’il sera trop tôt. I thought I twill be too early

To respect the concordance of tenses, it is therefore necessary to put the present conditional in this subordinate, which functions here as a future in the past.

Je pensais qu’il serait trop tôt. I thought it would be too early

We will see all this in more detail now!

The concordance of times: anteriority, simultaneity, posteriority

 

 

Let us now see, through examples, how the concordance of times works according to the 3 moments of chronology: anteriority, simultaneity and posteriority.

 

The subordinate clause expresses an action prior to the main one.

 

Je pense qu’il a étudié. I think he has studied -> main verb in the present tense, subordinate verb in the past tense 

Je pensais qu’il avait étudié. I thought he had studied -> main verb in the past, subordinate verb in the past perfect

 Of course, there are many other possibilities for expressing anteriority, but these structures are the most common.

The subordinate clause expresses an action simultaneous to the main one.

 

 Je pense que les enfants jouent. I think the children are playing. -> main verb in the present, subordinate verb in the present indicative.

 Je pensais que les enfants jouaient. I thought the children were playing. -> main verb in the past, subordinate verb in the imperfect

Note that in the second sentence, the tense of the main sentence is the imperfect tense. If we had put another past tense, such as the past perfect or the past simple, the verb in the subordinate would also have remained in the imperfect tense, because this tense is used to express simultaneity in the past:

J’ai cru que les enfants jouaient. I thought the children were playing.

Je crus que les enfants jouaient.I thought the children were playing.

The subordinate clause expresses an action subsequent to the main clause.

 

Elle dit qu’elle finira bientôt l’école. She says she will finish school soon. -> main verb in the present tense, subordinate verb in the simple future tense.

Elle a dit qu’elle finirait bientôt l’école. She said she would finish school soon. -> main verb in the past, subordinate verb in the present conditional.

Here again, there are other possibilities of expressing posteriority in French, but it is not a question of being exhaustive here, it is simply a question of explaining how the concordance of tenses works!

If you want to delve deeper into the subject, I recommend my teaching courses, which covers all these questions completely!

 

The concordance of tenses in the subjunctive

 

The use of the subjunctive in French also depends on the concordance of tenses.

 

The subjunctive being a mode that is mainly used in subordinate clauses, its use depends on the verb of the main clause. For example, if we use the verb VOULOIR in the main clause, it is necessary to put the subjunctive in the subordinate clause:

Je veux que tu viennes dormir chez moi! I want you to come to sleep at home!

It is the same with many verbs expressing wish, desire, doubt, necessity, etc. You will have more details here on the subjunctive.

However, the concordance of tenses with the subjunctive is no longer always done according to traditional grammatical rules. Indeed, in theory, if the tense of the main tense is in the past, we should use the imperfect subjunctive to mark simultaneity or posteriority, as in this sentence:

Je voulais que tu vinsses dormir à la maison. I wanted you to come at home. 

But as the imperfect subjunctive is no longer used today (except in literature), we now use the present subjunctive in the subordinate clause, even if the tense of the main clause is in the past.

Je voulais que tu viennes dormir à la maison. I wanted you to come at home. 

On the other hand, we still use the past subjunctive to mark anteriority:

Je regrette que tu ne sois pas venu dormir à la maison hier. I’m sorry you didn’t come at home, yesterday.

To conclude, we can therefore say that the concordance of subjunctive tenses is now partial in French. Only the present subjunctive and the past subjunctive are used. The other subjunctive tenses (imperfect and pluperfect) are reserved for literary or very sustained language.

 

The concordance of tenses in French: case of hypothesis and condition

 

 

The concordance of tenses also applies to construct sentences expressing the hypothesis or condition.

In French, we express the hypothesis and the condition using subordinate clauses introduced by SI. For them to be correctly constructed, it is therefore necessary to respect the rules of concordance of times.

 

For unrealizable hypotheses,

 

For unrealizable hypotheses, which concern a past that cannot be changed, we must use the past perfect in the subordinate clause, according to the following model:

SI + plus-que-parfait, + conditionnel passé

Let’s see an example:

Si j’avais fait mes devoirs, j’aurais été docteur. If I had done my homeworks, I would have been a doctor.

Note that we can also use the conditional present in the main sentence if the consequence is in the present: 

Si j’avais fait mes devoirs, j’aurais été docteur aujourd’hui. If I had done my homeworks, I would have been a doctor today.

 

For feasible hypotheses

 

For feasible hypotheses, which concern the present, we use the imperfect in the subordinate clause:

IF + imperfect, + present conditional

Here is an example:

Si je gagnais au loto, je ferais le tour du monde. If I won the lottery, I would travel around the world.

We can also use the past conditional in the main sentence, if the consequence occurs in the past: 

Si je gagnais au loto, j’aurais acheté une maison depuis longtemps! If I had money, I would have bought a house a long time ago!

 

For conditions

 

Finally, to express the condition in French, we use the present indicative in the subordinate clause, according to the following model:

IF + present, + imperative / present / future simple

Let’s see an example with each of the cases:

Si tu as le temps, appelle-moi! If you have time, call me!

Si tu veux, je peux t’aider. If you want, I can help you.

Si j’ai fini, je passerai chez toi. If I’m done, I will stop by your place.

The choice of the verb in the main sentence (imperative, present or simple future) depends on the meaning of the sentence. On the other hand, the tense in the subordinate clause must imperatively be the present indicative here, precisely because of the concordance of the tenses!

I hope that all these explanations have allowed you to understand this important but sometimes complex point of French grammar!

To complete this article, I advise you to go and see the conditional in French 

A bientôt

Julie