Fût-elle (en. Were she)

[fy.t ɛl]

Meaning & Definition

EnglishFrench

verb

A conjugated form of the verb 'to be'.

She would have needed to be there to understand.

Il aurait fallu qu'elle fût-là pour comprendre.

Used in conditional or hypothetical constructions.

If she had been present, everything would have been different.

Si fût-elle présente, tout aurait été différent.

Comes from the verb 'to be', from Latin 'esse'.

Was she telling the truth

If it turns out she told the truth.

Fût-elle dit la vérité

If she were there

In the event that she were present.

Si fût-elle là

Was she able

If she had been capable.

Fût-elle en mesure

was

Past tense of the verb 'to be'.

fut

Verb 'to be' in the present subjunctive.

soit

was

Imperfect indicative of the verb 'to be'.

était

Expression often used in a literary or formal context.

In a poem, it is often said 'was she one day in the garden'.

Dans un poème, on dit souvent 'fût-elle un jour au jardin'.

Can express a hypothesis in the past.

In the discussion, he used 'was she' to indicate a past possibility.

Dans la discussion, il a utilisé 'fût-elle' pour indiquer une possibilité passée.