Does subjunctive past ever follow vouloir que

Question

The subject of the lesson says subjunctif présent always follows vouloir que. If the sentence is in the past "elle a voulu que"' what happens to the subjunctive? Is it really in the present "elle a voulu que le chien parte" or should the subjunctive past be used? "'elle a voulu que le chien soit parti."'

Accepted Answer

Hi Diane,
You are correct in thinking that sometimes vouloir que will be followed by the subjunctive past.
I am thinking of a banal example like -
Je voudrais qu'ils partent = I'd like them to go 
and 
Je voudrais qu'ils soient partis = I'd like them (to be) gone
The important bit is that it is always followed by a subjunctive.
So thanks for pointing this out and I will alter the lesson title accordingly.

Answer

Hi Cécile, Can we be sure that "soient partis" is a past subjunctive in your example, rather than a present subjunctive plus a past participle acting as an adjective, as in the English translation? Is it possible to find a similar example with a verb that uses avoir to form the past tense? It seems slightly odd to me to combine "je voudrais" or "I would like" with a past tense, since it seems to indicate a desire that the past be changed. However, I know that many English speakers do find it acceptable, as discussed in this thread: https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3941According to Le Grevisse de l'etudiant:Après un conditionnel présent comme verbe principal, quand le verbe de la proposition doit être au subjonctif, il se met au présent ou à l'imparfait.Je voudrais qu'il vienne ou qu'il vînt. (Littré)I was thinking of something like "elle aurait voulu que le chien soit parti" = "she wished that the dog had gone", where "soit parti" could be replaced by "ait quitté la maison", say.