Breakdown of J'espérais qu'ils n'auraient repoussé aucun planning.
je
I
ils
they (masculine/mixed)
avoir
to have
ne
not (used before the verb)
espérer
to hope
que
that (introducing a clause)
aucun
no, not any (ne... aucun)
repousser
to postpone
le planning
the schedule (work/tasks)
Questions & Answers about J'espérais qu'ils n'auraient repoussé aucun planning.
Why is the conditional past (auraient repoussé) used here instead of the future perfect?
This is due to the sequence of tenses in reported thoughts. The main verb J'espérais is in the past tense. When you report a thought that originally used the future perfect (like 'they will not have postponed'), the past-tense intro forces it to backshift into the conditional past (auraient repoussé). It shows an action that was seen as a completed future event from a past perspective.
Since hoping involves emotion and uncertainty, why doesn't J'espérais que trigger the subjunctive?
Unlike verbs of wishing or fearing, espérer in the affirmative expresses a probable expectation rather than doubt. Therefore, it takes the indicative or the conditional. You would only use the subjunctive if the hope was negated or framed as a question (like Je n'espérais pas qu'ils...).
Why does aucun come after the past participle (repoussé) instead of wrapping around the auxiliary verb like pas does?
In compound tenses, short negative words like pas or plus go between the auxiliary verb and the past participle. However, aucun (meaning 'no' or 'not a single') acts as an adjective here. Because it directly modifies the noun (planning), it must stay right next to it, placing it after the entire verb phrase.
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