She hid until after he was gone

Question

The answer; Elle s'est cachée jusqu'à ce qu'il soit parti. surely means ' she hid until he was gone'. 'After' is not in the sentence . Is it implied? in English there is a subtle difference between the two sentences.

Cécile Janty-Davies · Accepted Answer

Bonjour Chris, 
We have been discussing this as a team and with our English expert, and have decided to change the translation to -
She hid until (after) he left 
Bonne Continuation !

Maarten Kamp · Answer

Chris,

the emphasis and temporal difference conveyed in English by using either “ until “ or the emphasised expression “ until after “, is indicated in French by the choice of tense in the secondary clause following ‘ jusqu’à ce que ‘. Remembering that there are only 2 subjunctive tenses in use in modern spoken French, the choice is limited.

In the sentence quoted in your question, the past subjunctive is used to reflect the fact that the primary clause action - hiding - continued until after the secondary clause action - leaving - had occurred/finished.

From the lesson

“ Regardless of the tense used in the main clause, the question is whether the main clause action will go on until the action after jusqu'à ce que happens, or until it has happened and stopped:

If it goes on until the moment the action happens, you'll use Le Subjonctif Présent.

If it goes on until after the action has happened and stopped, you'll use Le Subjonctif Passé. “

In English, “ she hid until he was leaving “ ( present subjunctive in French ) or “ she hid until he was gone/left/had gone ‘ ( past subjunctive in French ) are colloquial variants also, similar to the standard French versions, without using ‘ after ‘.