ABSTRACT
There has been considerable debate, but often relatively little agreement, amongst linguists regarding how best to account for usage of the subjunctive in Modern French. Although there have been numerous studies devoted to the French subjunctive since Imbs (1953), there is still considerable truth in his rather pessimistic assessment as to what faces a teacher seeking a clear explanation of its uses:
de savant en savant il [sc.le maitre] change de theorie, chacun lui fournissant son systeme du subjonctif, sa theorie de ses valeurs, si bien qu'au bout de sa quete il lui faut une foi solide pour ne pas sombrer dans un scepticisme radical (Imbs 1953:18).
