Subjonctif or not subjonctif?

MikyC1Kwiziq community member

Subjonctif or not subjonctif?

If, as mentioned, most people use the subjonctif after "après que", wouldn't it be odd to a francophone to hear the passé composé?

Après que je SUIS allé????

Even school teachers would say " Après que je SOIS allé"

Asked 2 years ago
CécileKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hi,

Just to add to Chris' excellent answer you would probably avoid the problem and say :

Après être allé/e ...

Boone Continuation!

ChrisC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

A language is a continuously evolving entity, and there always is a spectrum of accepted "correctness" ranging from absolutely wrong to absolutely correct. Using the subjunctive after après que is officially incorrect (c.f. Académie française: Après que | Académie française (academie-francaise.fr). Usage in informal everyday language may differ, but a language teaching site has to go by a more rigorous official standard.

If you were writing an article or composition in French, you would most certainly use après que with the indicative.

MaartenC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

As Cécile indicates, my French wife also uses après être (or après avoir where appropriate), because she knows it is wrong to use aprés que (subjonctif) but it 'feels' wrong not to, so she just avoids it !

Subjonctif or not subjonctif?

If, as mentioned, most people use the subjonctif after "après que", wouldn't it be odd to a francophone to hear the passé composé?

Après que je SUIS allé????

Even school teachers would say " Après que je SOIS allé"

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

Ask a question

Find your French level for FREE

Test your French to the CEFR standard

Find your French level
Thinking...