Subjonctif Passé (Subjunctive Past) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb accidenter

ByMichael Burns

Introduction to the verb accidenter

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The English translation of the French verb accidenter is “to have an accident” or “to be involved in an accident.” It is pronounced as “ahk-see-dahn-teh.”

The word accidenter comes from the Latin word “accidens,” meaning “occurring by chance.” It is most often used in everyday French conversation in the Subjonctif Passé tense to express a hypothetical or uncertain past action.

Here are three examples of its usage in this tense:

  1. Il est possible que j’aie accidenté ma voiture hier soir. (It is possible that I had an accident with my car last night.)

  2. Je ne pense pas qu’ils aient accidenté le bateau intentionnellement. (I don’t think they intentionally had an accident with the boat.)

  3. J’espère que tu n’as pas accidenté le vélo que je t’ai prêté. (I hope you didn’t have an accident with the bike I lent you.)

In these sentences, the verb accidenter is conjugated in the Subjonctif Passé tense to express a hypothetical or uncertain past action. The word “que” is used to introduce the subordinate clause, and the subject and verb are inverted. The English translation may vary slightly depending on the context, but the general meaning remains the same.

Table of the Subjonctif Passé (Subjunctive Past) Tense Conjugation of accidenter

Pronoun Conjugation Example Usage English Translation
je aie accidenté Je doute que j’aie accidenté. I doubt that I had an accident.
tu aies accidenté Il faut que tu aies accidenté. You must have had an accident.
il ait accidenté Elle craint qu’il ait accidenté. She fears he had an accident.
elle ait accidenté Elle espère qu’elle ait accidenté. She hopes she had an accident.
on ait accidenté On veut qu’on ait accidenté. We want it to have been an accident.
nous ayons accidenté Nous sommes contents que nous ayons accidenté. We are glad we had an accident.
vous ayez accidenté Il est important que vous ayez accidenté. It’s important that you had an accident.
ils aient accidenté Ils doutent qu’ils aient accidenté. They doubt they had an accident.
elles aient accidenté Elles préfèrent qu’elles aient accidenté. They prefer they had an accident.

Other Conjugations for Accidenter.

   
    Le Present (Present Tense) Conjugation of the French Verb accidenter
   

    Imparfait (Imperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb accidenter
   

    Passé Simple (Simple Past) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb accidenter
   

    Passé Composé (Present Perfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb accidenter
   

    Futur Simple (Simple Future) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb accidenter
   

    Futur Proche (Near Future) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb accidenter
   

    Plus-que-parfait (Pluperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb accidenter
   

    Passé Antérieur (Past Anterior) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb accidenter

    Futur Antérieur (Future Anterior) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb accidenter

    Subjonctif Présent (Subjunctive Present) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb accidenter

    Subjonctif Passé (Subjunctive Past) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb accidenter     (this article)

    Subjonctif Imparfait (Subjunctive Imperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb accidenter

    Subjonctif Plus-que-parfait (Subjunctive Pluperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb accidenter
   

    Conditionnel Présent (Conditional Present) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb accidenter
   

    Conditionnel Passé (Conditional Past) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb accidenter

    L’impératif Présent (Imperative Present) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb accidenter

    L’infinitif Présent (Infinitive Present) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb accidenter

    Struggling with French verbs or the language in general? Why not use our free French Grammar Checker – no registration required!
   

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Accidenter – About the French Subjonctif Passé (Subjunctive Past) Tense

The French Subjonctif Passé is a verb tense used to express actions or states that are uncertain, hypothetical, or dependent on some condition in the past. It’s often used in conjunction with the main verb in the present or future tense to convey various nuances of doubt, desire, necessity, or emotion.

NOTE: To take a deep dive into all the French tenses then see my article on Mastering French Tense Conjugation.

Formation of the Subjonctif Passé

To form the Subjonctif Passé, you generally need to start with the third person plural (ils/elles) form of the passé composé (a compound past tense). Then, drop the subject and replace it with the appropriate Subjonctif endings. The endings are the same for regular -er, -ir, and -re verbs:

   – For -er verbs: -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent
   – For -ir verbs: -isse, -isses, -ît, -issions, -issiez, -issent
   – For -re verbs: -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent

For example, if you have the verb “parler” (to speak) in the third person plural passé composé, which is “ils ont parlé” (they spoke), the Subjonctif Passé form would be “qu’ils aient parlé” (that they spoke).

Everyday Usage Patterns

The Subjonctif Passé is commonly used in various situations:

– Expressing doubt or uncertainty: It’s used when you’re not certain about the completion of an action in the past. For example, “Je doute qu’il ait mangé” (I doubt that he ate).

– Desires and preferences: When you want or wish for something to have happened in the past. For instance, “Je préfère que tu aies réussi” (I prefer that you have succeeded).

– Expressing emotions: To convey emotions or feelings related to past actions or events. For example, “Il est content que nous ayons gagné” (He is happy that we won).

– Hypothetical situations: When discussing hypothetical or unreal past situations. For example, “Si j’avais su, j’aurais souhaité qu’ils aient été là” (If I had known, I would have wished they had been there).

Interactions with Other Tenses

The Subjonctif Passé often interacts with other tenses to convey specific meanings:

Present tense

It’s commonly used after expressions of doubt, desire, necessity, or emotion in the present. For example, “Il faut que tu aies fini” (You must have finished).

Future tense

It’s used in the future for hypothetical or unreal actions in the past when the main clause is in the future. For example, “Je douterai qu’ils aient terminé demain” (I will doubt that they have finished tomorrow).

Conditional

When the main clause is in the conditional, the Subjonctif Passé can be used to express unreal or hypothetical actions in the past. For instance, “Il voudrait que nous ayons réussi” (He would like us to have succeeded).

Summary

The Subjonctif Passé is a versatile tense used in French to convey uncertainty, doubt, desire, or hypothetical situations related to past actions. It is used in various everyday contexts and interacts with other tenses to express specific nuances in the language.

I hope you enjoyed this article on the verb accidenter. Still in a learning mood? Check out another TOTALLY random French verb conjugation!

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