Breakdown of Le corbeau était tellement vaniteux qu'il aimait qu'on le flattât.
être
to be
il
he
on
one / we (informal)
aimer
to like, to love
le
him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
que
that (introducing a clause)
tellement
so much / so
le corbeau
the raven
vaniteux
vain
flatter
to flatter
Questions & Answers about Le corbeau était tellement vaniteux qu'il aimait qu'on le flattât.
What tense is flattât, and why does it have a circumflex?
Flattât is the third-person singular form of the imperfect subjunctive (subjonctif imparfait) of the verb flatter (to flatter). In this tense, the il, elle, and on forms always take a circumflex over the vowel right before the -t ending (for example, qu'il parlât, qu'elle finît). You will mostly encounter this tense in literature or historical texts.
Why use the imperfect subjunctive here instead of the present subjunctive?
In formal and literary French, the tense of the subjunctive verb agrees with the main verb. Because the main verb (aimait) is in a past tense, the subjunctive verb (flattât) must be in a past form too. In modern, everyday spoken French, people typically ignore this rule and just use the present subjunctive (qu'on le flatte) even if the main verb is in the past.
Why is the subjunctive triggered for flatter but not for aimer?
The phrase il aimait que (he loved that) expresses an emotion or strong preference, which is a classic trigger for the subjunctive in the clause that follows it. The first que in the sentence (tellement vaniteux qu'il...) simply introduces a factual result of him being vain, so the verb following it (aimait) stays in the normal indicative mood.
The English translation says "he loved being flattered." Why doesn't the French sentence use a passive voice?
French frequently avoids the passive voice by instead using the active voice with the indefinite pronoun on (one/people). So, instead of saying "that he be flattered" (a passive construction like qu'il fût flatté), French naturally phrases it as qu'on le flattât (that one flatter him).
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