1

How would one convey the conditional after a phrase that must be followed by the subjunctive in French?

For example, in the sentence "although I would have...", "although" would be translated as "bien que," but the subjunctive would need to follow, and a past conditional subjunctive does not exist in French.

A complete sentence could be: Although I would have tried my best, I was tired so I decided not to.

Both "bien que je fasse de mon mieux..." and "bien que j'aurais fait (this is in the indicative mood rather than the subjunctive mood) de mon mieux..." don't seem correct.

2
  • 1
    Can you edit your question and add an example of a whole English sentence (and possibly French translation) exhibiting the issue?
    – jlliagre
    Dec 30, 2016 at 10:25
  • I've added a complete English sentence as requested.
    – user10714
    Dec 30, 2016 at 10:41

2 Answers 2

2

The mood that needs to follow bien que is an open topic, see for example this article.

In any case, there might not be a requirement for a past tense in translating "I would have tried" so here is how I would translate your sentence:

Bien que d'habitude je fais de mon mieux, j'étais fatigué alors j'ai décidé de ne pas le faire (or j'ai décidé que non.)

Otherwise, the literary:

Bien que j'eusse d'ordinaire fait de mon mieux, j'étais fatigué alors j'ai décidé de ne pas le faire.

and the more realistic:

Alors que j'aurais fait de mon mieux en temps normal, j'étais fatigué et j'ai décidé de ne pas le faire.

1

I suppose this would match :

Bien qu'il aurait dû + infinitive (manger for exemple)

2

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.