Subjunctive mood

Question

This is kind of a general question and might take a long reply but....could someone tell me how the subjunctive mood works exactly in English. And mainly, the forms it can be found in. (Besides "Viva la revolution"-type sentances, that's the one thing I know about the Subjunctive mood.)

Raul · Accepted Answer

Hard to say how subjunctive mood *** works in such a small room.

The Subjunctive Mood denotes a mood of verbs when the content of the clause is being doubted, supposed, feared true, etc., rather than being asserted (which is the Indicative Mood). The rules for its use and the range of meanings it may possess vary considerably from language to language.

In the following sentence, "were" is in the subjunctive:

I'd think very seriously about that if I were you.

Americans tend to use "was" nowadays, considering it *more ***.

In some That-clauses, where the clause expresses an intention:

Congress has voted that the present law *** to operate.

Notice that "should+infinitive" can also be used. This us of subjunctive is common in AmE (newspapers for instance).

Subjunctive is also found in some conditional and contrast clauses:

Whatever be the reason for it, we cannnot tolerate this behaviour.
(= whatever the reasons for it may be...)

As you put it, it also found in certain idioms, ususally in main clauses:

*** save the Queen!
So be it then
Heaven forbid!

Thsi constructions, however, are all formal and rather elevated or old-fashioned.

Hope ths helps!

NanakiXIII · Answer

Thanks. It's actaully not too different from my own language. But I have one question.

"Congress has voted that the present law *** to operate."

Continue, shouldn't that be continues? It's a fact that they voted so, so why not use the indicative mood?

Raul · Answer

According to Leech & Svartvik's "A Communicative Grammar of English", the subjunctive applies to:

Congress has voted/decided/decreed/insisted that the present law continue to ooperate.

This particular type of subjunctive is called "mandative", and it's common to have only one verb form, the base, in expressions like demand, require, insist, suggest, be necessary, obligatory. Thsi means there's a lack of the usual concord between subject and finifte verb in teh 3rd person singular present, and that the present and past tense are indistiguishable. The use of this subjunctive occurs mainly in formal style, and especially in AmE. This form is of little use in modern English. In other contexts, that-clauses with should+infinitive or to-infinitive are more common:

It's necessary that every member inform himself of these rules. (formal)
It's necessary that every memebr should inform himself of these rules.
It's necessary for every member to inform himself of these rules.

Hope this helps!

NanakiXIII · Answer

Thanks<img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

Subjunctive mood

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