Passé du subjonctif

The past subjunctive is the past tense of the subjunctive mood.

In other words, the exact same verbs, emotions, expressions, and conjunctions that call
for the subjunctive in the present (and future) can indicate subjectivity about something
that happened in the past, and when this happens, the verb in the subordinate clause is
in the past subjunctive.

Note: The verb in the main clause may be in the present or past.

A. Main clause in present tense

The speaker describes how they feel now about something that happened (or didn’t
happen) in the past.

Par exemple…
a. Je doute qu’il ait fini ses devoirs.
I doubt he (has) finished his homework.

b. Il est ravi que tu sois venu à la fête.

He’s delighted that you came to the party.

c. Elle ne pense pas que Jean ait mangé.

She doesn’t think Jean ate / has eaten.

B. Main clause in past tense

The speaker explains they felt in the past about what happened or didn’t happen.

Par exemple…
 a. Je doutais qu’il ait fini ses devoirs.
I doubted he’d finished his homework.

b. Il était ravi que tu sois venu à la fête.

He was delighted that you came to the party.

c. Elle ne pensait pas que Jean ait mangé.

She didn’t think Jean had eaten.

Subjonctif Passé Formation

The subjonctif passé is constructed with the present subjunctive form of avoir or être
and the participe passé of the verb. Most verbs take avoir as their auxiliary in the
subjonctif passé.

Examples:
que j’aie aimé
que j’aie fini
que j’aie vendu
The verb être is only used in the following cases:

with 14 verbs of motion and of staying still: naître/mourir, aller/venir, monter/descendre,

arriver/partir, entrer/sortir, apparaître, rester, retourner, tomber and their related forms
such as: revenir, rentrer, remonter, redescendre, repartir.
Example:
que je sois allé