Breakdown of Il fallait que la cigale vaniteuse suppliât la fourmi.
que
that (introducing a clause)
la fourmi
the ant
il fallait
it was necessary, one had to
vaniteux
vain
Questions & Answers about Il fallait que la cigale vaniteuse suppliât la fourmi.
Why does suppliât have a circumflex accent (^) on the a?
Why is the imperfect subjunctive used here instead of the present subjunctive?
The triggering phrase in the main clause is in a past tense (il fallait). In traditional and literary French, when the main verb is in the past, the dependent verb must be in the imperfect (or pluperfect) subjunctive to match it. In modern everyday speech, people ignore this rule and just use the present subjunctive: Il fallait que la cigale supplie la fourmi.
Is there a cultural reason this sentence specifically talks about a cicada and an ant?
Does the verb supplier take a direct or indirect object?