Ne expletif and the subjunctive

[Tryphon Tournesol]

Are there any rules for when the verb following the ne expletif should be in the subjunctive tense?

I've seen the subjunctive in:

Elle a peur qu'il ne soit malade.

Whereas the indicative is used in:

Il est plus tard que vous ne pensez.

Is this because the first sentence features "Elle a peur" whereas the second features "Il est"?

[Vedas]

Yes a lot of phrases trigger the subjunctive form:

http://www.connectigramme.com/subjonctif.html/odyframe.htm

Elle a peur que/ elle craint que expresse doubt or fear 

[George Hunt]

I was taught to say "Il est plus tard que vous ne le  pensez"

I can't how how important (or even correct) that is.

[Vedas]

Il est plus tard que vous ne le pensez is absolutely correct

[Tryphon Tournesol]

I think I've seen something similar for the verb espérer.  

I can't recall the exact sentence, but it was something like:

Je l'espère que [something or rather].    I thought the "l'" didn't need to be there, but I've seen it a few times.  

Is this a matter of convention, or will the meaning change if the sentence reads as J'espère que [xyz].   

[Neil Coffey]

Hi-- Just wanted to mention that there's a fair amount of information on the French Linguistics web site about the subjunctive in French, starting here for an overview of what the subjunctive "is":

http://www.french-linguistics.co.uk/grammar/subjunctive_what_is.shtml

and here for information on specific instances of its use:

http://www.french-linguistics.co.uk/grammar/subjunctive_when_intro....

As I mentioned in the thread the other day, the convention of adding the "ne" in the examples you mention is essentially historical: they were felt to "require a negative", at a tie when "ne" on its own could convey a negative.

[Tryphon Tournesol]

Merci