Word
L'écrivain voulait que l'orgueil du roi fût puni.
Meaning
The writer wanted the king's pride to be punished.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of L'écrivain voulait que l'orgueil du roi fût puni.
être
to be
de
of / from / any (in negative sentences) / about (concerning)
le roi
the king
vouloir
to want
Questions & Answers about L'écrivain voulait que l'orgueil du roi fût puni.
What triggers the subjunctive mood here in the first place?
Why do we see fût here instead of the present subjunctive soit?
The word fût is the imperfect subjunctive of the verb être. Because the main verb voulait is in a past tense, formal written French uses the imperfect subjunctive in the dependent clause to match the timeframe. In everyday spoken French, you would simply use the present subjunctive and say soit.
How can I easily tell that fût is the imperfect subjunctive and not the passé simple (past historic)?
Look at the circumflex accent on the û! The third-person singular of the imperfect subjunctive always has this accent, as seen in forms like fût, eût, or parlât. Without the accent, fut is simply the passé simple.
How does the passive voice work with the subjunctive in this sentence?
The English translation shows a passive action (to be punished). To form the passive voice in the subjunctive, you conjugate the auxiliary verb être in the subjunctive (here, fût) and follow it with the past participle of the action verb (puni).