Jenny Gustafsson: Le subjonctif dans le français du XXIe siècle: Étude sur l’emploi des modes après il est possible / probable que, espérer que et après que

Abstract

The present study examines the use of mood, focusing particularly on the use of the subjunctive following the expressions probable / possible que, espérer que, and après que in 21st-century French. According to most grammars and dictionaries, all of these expressions (except for possible que) should be followed by the indicative. They hold an important place in certain theories of mood semantics. The analysis covers both actual usage patterns and the linguistic perceptions (l’imaginaire linguistique) that speakers have regarding these expressions.

The data consists of 12,044 instances of probable / possible que, espérer que, and après que, divided across three hypergenres: articles, comment sections, and books. The results show that subjunctive frequency varies depending on the hypergenre. However, it is not the same corpus that stands out with high subjunctive use for all expressions. There is a higher-than-expected use of the subjunctive after probable que, especially in cases where probability is intensified with adverbs like très, fort, etc. (70% in the article corpus). Subjunctive use is relatively high after espérer que in the article and comment section corpora, whereas it is low in the book corpus. Apart from the comment sections, subjunctive use is somewhat lower after après que than indicated in certain academic texts and in speakers’ perceptions, as expressed on platforms like the WordReference.com forum.

Through a multivariate statistic analysis, factors influencing the choice of mood were identified, such as hypergenre and the tense of the governing expression.