Future/present/past tenses in the subjunctive

Question

'J'ai peur qu'il ne soit à l'heure. I am afraid he is on time.' Could that not also mean  'he will be on time' or 'he was on time', preumably from context?

Accepted Answer

Theoretically, there are 4 subjunctive tenses in French: present, passé composé, imparfait, and plus-que-parfait. However, only the first two are ever used. The latter two are almost extinct. There is no subjunctive for the future tense. So, today, the subjunctive présent has to fill in for these other tenses as well. You will use the subjunctive passé when you stress the temporal sequence of events. Kwiziq does provide kwizzes on that topic. You'll encounter them sooner or later.

Answer

Hi Chris,There is no future tense for the subjunctive mood as I understand it."J'ai peur qu'il ne soit à l'heure" expresses emotion that the visitor will arrive on time.It may be imagined that the host is not as prepared as he/she wanted to be for the arrival of the "guest" and is a bit anxious about this.This is my understanding  --  hope it helps?Jim