Subjunctive

Question

What is the subjunctive?

Dokterjokkebrok · Accepted Answer

Hi Irishness, and welcome to EnglishForward,

The subjunctive form is a grammatical construction used to indicate an unreal situation in present or future. It's very common in American English and less common in British English. Usually it's introduced by a certain adjective/verb, and often times a sort of wish, desire, command is expressed with it.

e.g.

I think it is essential that he be fired.

The subjunctive verb form is the stem of a verb. That is, be, do, see, come, know et cetera. This very same form is used for all persons.

Kind regards,

CalifJim · Answer

In English the forms for the indicative and those for the subjunctive are identical in the present.
Exception 1: The subjunctive of "to be" in the present is "be" regardless of the subject.
Exception 2: The third person singular drops the "s" inflection of the indicative to form the subjunctive. (He goes. vs. ...that he go.)

The forms for the indicative and those for the subjunctive are identical in the past.
Exception 1: The past subjunctive of "to be" is uniformly "were". Hence, only when the subject is "I" or third person singular can past indicative be distinguished from past subjunctive.

That's it! That's the whole story on subjunctives in English from the point of view of the formation of the tenses.

The present subjunctive is usually used in the subordinate clauses that follow certain verbs and adjectives. (Karen demanded that Paul go.)

The past subjunctive is usually used in if clauses. (If he were smart, he would go.)

For more details, type "subjunctive" in the search box at the top of the page. You'll get a list of many posts that discuss this topic.

CJ

Subjunctive

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