Breakdown of Il était injuste que l'agneau fût puni par le loup.
être
to be
il
it (impersonal subject)
par
by, through / out of (motive)
le loup
the wolf
que
that (introducing a clause)
injuste
unfair
l'agneau
the lamb (m)
punir
to punish
Questions & Answers about Il était injuste que l'agneau fût puni par le loup.
Why do we see fût puni here instead of the normal subjunctive soit puni?
The main clause Il était injuste is in a past tense. In formal and literary French, a past-tense trigger requires the imperfect subjunctive (le subjonctif imparfait) to keep the tenses aligned. In everyday spoken French, people would ignore this and just use the present subjunctive soit puni.
How can I easily recognize that fût is an imperfect subjunctive form?
The visual giveaway for the third-person singular of the imperfect subjunctive is the circumflex accent over the vowel right before the final t. For the verb être, the form is fût. It is important to notice the accent, because without it, fut is simply the simple past tense (le passé simple).
Is fût puni a compound past tense?
No, this is the passive voice. The lamb is receiving the action rather than doing it. To form the passive voice, you use the auxiliary verb être in whatever tense is required (here, the imperfect subjunctive fût) and follow it with the past participle of the main verb (puni).
What exact part of the sentence forces us to use the subjunctive in the first place?
The impersonal expression Il était injuste que acts as the trigger. In French, whenever you express a subjective judgment, emotion, or opinion about a situation, the following clause must be in the subjunctive mood.
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