Subjonctif passé et d'autres questions

Question

Bonjour à toutes et à tous,
Few Qs on this exercise:
1. I'm not entirely sure why the phrase below is in the subjonctif passé - can someone please explain? I had used the subjonctif présent.
Bien que mon père et moi ayons passé du temps à sécuriser les volets cet après-midi-là
2. Given we've just mentioned the night in question, can one not use 'elle' rather than 'ça' in the phrase below?
Quand je pense à cette nuit-là, ça me fait toujours frissonner !
3. What is the difference between rameaux et branches? I had used the former.
Merci!
Nick

Accepted Answer

OK, let me tackle your questions in turn.
1. The subjonctif passé is used because the stress is on the securing of the windows having been finished well before the storm actually started. It is the sequence of events that triggers the past subjunctive rather than the fact that the story is happening in the past.
2. The pronoun ça refers to the events of that night than the night itself.
3. Rameaux are branches but of the smaller kind -- something between branches and twigs -- whereas branches are the thicker kind that branch off the trunk.

Answer

Salut Nick,The text looks back to an event when someone was 18 years of age  -- a historic situation.Any action that took place then surely justifies the past subjunctive after "bien que" ?On point two  --  "Quand je pense à cette nuit-là"  the total phrase (one of reflection) is then referred to by "ça" not just the night of the event.These are my understanding of points one and two  --  hope it helps.Bonne journée Jim