Le temps que tu sois prête, le bus était déjà parti.

Question

............ prête, le bus était déjà parti.By
the time you were ready, the bus was already gone.The given answer is: Le temps que tu sois prête, le bus était déjà parti.But both clauses of his sentence seem to be in the past, so is it okay (even better) to write:Le temps que tu aies été prête, le bus était déjà parti. ?

Accepted Answer

Let's look at the sentence again: By the time you were ready, the bus was already gone.
The point in time when you were ready happened after the bus had already left. Therefore you need the subjunctive present tense. If you wanted the fact that you were ready BEFORE the bus left (which doesn't make sense here) you'd use the subjunctive past tense.
In French, le subjonctif passé is used to stress that one action completed before the other began.

Answer

Hi Mike,Not clear why you say that both clauses seem to be in the past when the present subjunctive is employed  --  Le temps que tu sois (present)The bus is expected to have left during the time it takes to get ready.I think it is all correct as it stands.Jim