Breakdown of Le fait que cette fable fût si courte a plu à l'enfant.
être
to be
l'enfant
the child
ce
this (before a noun)
à
at / to / in (general locations) / about (what one thinks about / reacts to)
Questions & Answers about Le fait que cette fable fût si courte a plu à l'enfant.
Why is fût used here instead of soit?
fût is the imperfect subjunctive of the verb être. Because the main action (a plu) is in the past, formal or literary French uses the imperfect subjunctive instead of the present subjunctive (soit) to match the past timeframe. In everyday spoken French, you would simply hear soit here.
What triggers the subjunctive mood in this sentence?
The phrase Le fait que (The fact that) usually triggers the subjunctive in French. It frames a fact as a topic of subjective consideration, emotion, or judgment, rather than just stating it flatly as a new piece of information.
Does the circumflex accent on fût serve a grammatical purpose?
Yes, the circumflex on fût is crucial in writing because it distinguishes the imperfect subjunctive from the passé simple form fut (was). The pronunciation is identical, but that little hat is the visual hallmark of the 3rd person singular imperfect subjunctive.
Wait, is plu the past tense of pleuvoir (to rain) here?
It looks exactly the same, but here plu is the past participle of plaire (to please). The structure a plu à l'enfant translates to "pleased the child." The verb pleuvoir is only ever used impersonally with il (like il a plu, meaning "it rained").