Subjunctive

SUBJUNCTIVE

Subjunctive

The subjunctive is a special, relatively rare verb form in English.

Structure of the Subjunctive

The structure of the subjunctive is extremely simple. For all verbs except the past tense of be, the subjunctive is the same as the bare infinitive (infinitive without "to"):

be (past)	be (present)	all other verbs (past & present)
I were you were he, she, it were we were you were they were	I be you be he, she, it be we be you be they be	I work you work he, she, it work we work you work they work

The subjunctive does not change according to person (I, you, he etc).

Verbs Followed by the Subjunctive

The Subjunctive is used after the following verbs:

to advise (that)
to ask (that)
to command (that)
to demand (that)
to desire (that)
to insist (that)
to propose (that)
to recommend (that)
to request (that)
to suggest (that)
to urge (that)

Examples:

·       Dr. Smith asked that Mark submit his research paper before the end of the month.

·       Donna requested Frank come to the party.

·       The teacher insists that her students be on time.

Expressions Followed by the Subjunctive

The Subjunctive is used after the following expressions:

It is best (that)
It is crucial (that)
It is desirable (that)
It is essential (that)
It is imperative (that)
It is important (that)
It is recommended (that)
It is urgent (that)
It is vital (that)
It is a good idea (that)
It is a bad idea (that)

Examples:

·       It is crucial that you be there before Tom arrives.

·       It is important she attend the meeting.

·       It is recommended that he take a gallon of water with him if he wants to hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

Use of the Subjunctive

We use subjunctives mainly when talking about events that are not certain to happen. For example, we use the subjunctive when talking about events that somebody:

• wants to happen
• anticipates will happen
• imagines happening

Look at these examples:

• The President requests that you be present at the meeting.
• It is vital that you be present at the meeting.
• If you were at the meeting, the President would be happy.

The subjunctive is typically used after two structures:

• the verbs: ask, command, demand, insist, propose, recommend, request, suggest + that
• the expressions: it is desirable, essential, important, necessary, vital + that

Here are some examples with the subjunctive:

• The manager insists that the car park be locked at night.
• The board of directors recommended that he join the company.
• It is essential that we vote as soon as possible.
• It was necessary that every student submit his essay by the weekend.

Notice that in these structures the subjunctive is always the same. It does not matter whether the sentence is past or present. Look at these examples:

• Present: The President requests that they stop the occupation.
• Past: The President requested that they stop the occupation.

• Present: It is essential that she be present.
• Past: It was essential that she be present.

Negative, Continuous and Passive Forms of Subjunctive

The Subjunctive can be used in negative, continuous and passive forms.

Negative Examples:

·       The boss insisted that Sam not be at the meeting.

·       The company asked that employees not accept personal phone calls during business hours.

·       I suggest that you not take the job without renegotiating the salary.

Passive Examples:

·       Jake recommended that Susan be hired immediately.

·       Christine demanded that I be allowed to take part in the negotiations.

·       We suggested that you be admitted to the organization.

Continuous Examples:

·       It is important that you be standing there when he gets off the plane.

·       It is crucial that a car be waiting for the boss when the meeting is over.

·       I propose that we all be waiting in Tim's apartment when he gets home.

The use of the subjunctive as above is more common in American English than in English, where should + infinitive is often used:

• The manager insists that the car park should be locked at night.
• It was essential that we should vote as soon as possible.

We usually use the subjunctive were instead of "was" after if (and other words with similar meaning). Look at these sentences:

• If I were you, I would ask her.
• Suppose she were here. What would you say?

Why do we say "I were", "he were"?

We sometimes hear things like "if I were you, I would go" or "if he were here, he would tell you". Normally, the past tense of the verb "to be" is: I was, he was. But the if I were you structure does not use the past simple tense of the verb "to be". It uses the past subjunctive of the verb "to be". In the following examples, you can see that we often use the subjunctive form were instead of "was" after:

• if
• as if
• wish
• suppose

Formal (The were form is correct at all times.)	Informal (The was form is possible in informal, familiar conversation.)
If I were younger, I would go.	If I was younger, I would go.
If he weren't so mean, he would buy one for me.	If he wasn't so mean, he would buy one for me.
I wish I weren't so slow!	I wish I wasn't so slow!
I wish it were longer.	I wish it was longer.
It's not as if I were ugly.	It's not as if I was ugly.
She acts as if she were Queen.	She acts as if she was Queen.
If I were you, I should tell her.	Note: We do not normally say "if I was you", even in familiar conversation.

Some fixed expressions use the subjunctive. Here are some examples:

• Long live the King!
• God bless America!
• Heaven forbid!
• Be that as it may, he still wants to see her.
• Come what may, I will never forget you.
• We are all citizens of the world, as it were.

Example

1.      It is essential that she be at the meeting.

2.      If I were you I would call her tonight.

3.      It is necessary that every student were a uniform.

4.      I hope that he finishes his homework on time.

5.      The doctors recommended that she take a holiday.

6.      The boss asks that you be early for your first day of work.

7.      If you were feeling better we would go.

8.      It is important that we call home as soon as we arrive.

9.      The landlord requested that John move out of the apartment.

10.  We want the windows to be washed before Friday.

11.  It's important that she (remember) remember to take her medicine twice a day.

12.  I suggest that Frank (read) read the directions carefully before assembling the bicycle. He doesn't want the wheels to fall off while he
is riding down a hill.

13.  Mrs. Finkelstein demanded that the heater (repair) be repaired immediately. Her apartment was freezing.

14.  It's vital that the United States (focus) focus on improving its public education system. What we do now will affect our country for
generations to come.

15.  The monk insisted that the tourists (enter) not enter the temple until they had removed their shoes.

16.   I am not going to sit here and let her insult me. I demand that she immediately (apologize) apologize for what she just said.

17.  Judy asked that we (attend) attend her graduation ceremony next week.

18.  Was it really necessary that (sit) I be sitting there watching you the entire time you were rehearsing for the play? It was really
boring watching you repeat the scenes over and over again.

19.  It is important to remember that Janine (think) thinks very differently from you. She may not agree to the changes you have made in
the organization of the company.

20.  It's a little difficult to find the restaurant. I propose that we all (drive) drive together so that nobody gets lost along the way.

21.  The woman insisted that the lost child (take) be taken to store's information desk so his parents could be paged.

22.  The nutritionist recommended that Sally (reduce) reduce her daily fat intake.

23.  The environmental leader felt it was extremely important that the people of the city (allow) be allowed to voice their concerns over the
new hotel being built on the bay.

24.  She told me that the government (regulate) regulates the airline industry. I don't know if that is true.

25.  The sign at the pool recommended that you (swim) not swim after eating a large meal.

26.  It is necessary that a life guard (monitor) monitor the summing pool while the children are taking their swimming lessons.

27.  The sun is scorching today. I suggest you (put) put on sun block immediately before you get a sun burn.

28.  John insists that Sarah (invite) be invited to the wedding; otherwise he will not attend.

29.  I think it's an interesting fact that she (come) comes from Estonia.

30.  It is imperative that the world (work) work towards a solution to global warming before the weather patterns of the world are
disrupted irreparably.

Conditional Sentence

Conditional sentences

The most common kind of conditional sentence that you are likely to meet will contain two clauses, one of which will start with the word if, as in If it rains, we'll have to stay at home. The clause without the if is the main clause of the sentence, while the if clause is subordinate. The order of the two clauses is generally not that important to the meaning of the sentence; so we can switch the if clause to the end of the sentence if we want to.

Most grammar books tend to recognise four basic configurations of tenses in conditional sentences which vary in structure according to the time that we are talking about (past, present or future) and the meaning. These four types are normally referred to as the zero, first, second and third conditionals; we will look at the forms and meanings of each of these in turn and also examine some of the alternatives to these four basic types.

Zero-type conditionals

Form and meaning

The form of the zero conditional causes no problems since the present tenses are used in both clauses.

Zero-type conditionals
If clause	Main or conditional clause
If + Present tense	Present tense
If you heat water	it boils.

The zero conditional is normally used to talk about facts and to express general truths.

Example

(a)   If I have enough time, I write to my parents every week.

If I don’t eat breakfast, I always get hungry during class.

Water freezes if the temperature below 32⁰ F/0⁰ C.

 

First-type conditionals

Form and meaning

The basic form for this type of conditional sentence can be seen in the chart below. As before, the order of the clauses can be changed with no change in meaning.

This type refers to future possibilities that are certain or probable.

First-type conditionals
If clause	Main or conditional clause
If + Present tense	Future tense
If they don't arrive soon If they are late	we'll leave without them. I'm going to be angry.

You will note that on the if side of the sentence any present tense can be used, while in the main clause the speaker is free to choose any future that helps to express any additional meaning that the speaker wants to express.

Example:

If he's sleeping, he won't wake up until morning. (The Present Continuous in the first part of the sentence expresses the present temporary nature of the situation and the will in the second part is making a prediction about the future.)

Alan is going to post me the recipe, if he finds it. (In the first clause I am expressing Alan's intention so going to is the best future to use, while the second clause contains a Simple Present tense.)

If he's staying at the party, I'm leaving. (In the first clause I am thinking about the possible current state of affairs, so I choose the Present Continuous, while in the second I am referring to the future plan that I have in mind should he decide to stay, so again I choose the Present Continuous.)

If you have finished the essay, leave it on my desk. (By using the Present Perfect tense in the if clause I am stressing the completed nature of the action, while in the second clause I have used an imperative, which has a future meaning.)

 

Second-type conditionals

Form and meaning

This type is often called the hypothetical or 'unreal' future conditional since it is usually used to speculate about either very unlikely future situations or present and future impossibilities.

Second-type conditionals
If clause	Main or conditional clause
If + Past tense	would + verb
If I had time If I had wings	I would drop you off at school. I would fly.

Other examples are:

·         If you were coming with us, you would have a great time. (Either I am not expecting you to come or you have already told me that you do not intend to come, so the situation is very unlikely to happen.)

·         I'm sure my mother would help if you asked her. (I am unsure whether you are going to ask so I hedge my bets by using an 'unreal' conditional; if I had used I'm sure my mother will help instead, this gives the impression that I feel you are likely to ask.)

·         If I were you, I'd call back later. (This is a fixed expression used for giving advice, but since I can never be you, I use the future hypothetical conditional; you should note that many people would say if I was youand this is becoming increasingly common.)

 

Third-type conditionals

Form and meaning

This type refers to hypothetical situations in the past. In this case we use the Past Perfect tenses in the If clause and would + have in the main clause.

Third-type conditionals
If clause	Main or conditional clause
If + Past Perfect tense	would have + past participle
If I had known about his condition If we had known about the storm	I would have phoned for you earlier. we wouldn't have started our journey.

The main uses of the third conditional are for speculating about the past, expressing regrets, excusing our own actions and criticising others. Some of the uses tend to overlap in practice as the examples below demonstrate:

·         If we'd taken the first turning, we would have been at home by now.

·         If I'd bought the lottery ticket, we would have won millions.

·         If I'd realised you were going to be so sensitive, I'd have kept quiet.

·         The meeting would've finished before 1:00 if you'd said less.

There is one other major variation to the form given in the chart above; in place of the more usual

If I had known about his condition...

we can use

Had I known about his condition... where the if is omitted and the subject and auxiliary verb are inverted.

 

Mixed conditionals

The four types of conditional sentence discussed above appear to fit into very rigid patterns of form and meaning but we often find exceptions to these rules. In many cases we may want to talk about events that happened or did not happen in the past and the present results of those events. Therefore, we will often need to mix clauses from different conditional types in order to get our meaning across clearly and unambiguously. Taking one example from above, we might want to say:

If I'd bought the lottery ticket, we would be millionaires now.

In this sentence I want to refer to something that I did not do in the past (and probably regret) and the possible effect that this action might have had on the present - so I use a third-conditional if clause and a second-conditional main clause. Swapping around these two types we also get:

·         If he was going to come, he would have arrived by now (with a second-conditional if clause and a third-conditional main).

This kind of mixing of conditional types is not uncommon.