What is it about the
subjunctive form that makes both native and nonnative users of English get so intimidated and prone to error when using it?
The reason for this is, of course, that verbs in the singular third-person subjunctive ignore the subject-verb agreement rule. They drop the “-s” or “-es” at their tail ends and take the base form of the verb (the verb’s infinitive form without the “to”).
Thus, contrary to what we normally would expect, the verb forms in these two examples of subjective construction are incorrect: “It is imperative t
hat he submits himself to the jurisdiction of this court.” “The law requires
that she divests herself of her business holdings before assuming public office.” Instead, the correct verb forms for those subjunctive sentences are these: “It is imperative
that he submit himself to the jurisdiction of this court.” “The law requires
that she divest herself of her business holdings before assuming public office.”
And there is also this very important and very instructive general rule for subjunctive “that”-clauses: their operative verbs don’t change form at all regardless of what number or person the subject takes. The subjunctive actually acts in several other baffling ways in addition to this deviant behavior, thus making its usage even more confusing to many people. To increase our confidence in using the subjunctive, we need to clearly understand all those other unusual behaviors, and a good way to get the process started is to reacquaint ourselves with the so-called
moods or attitudes of verbs in the English language.
Recall that
there are three general moods of verbs in English, mood being that aspect of the verb that expresses the state of mind or attitude of the speaker toward what he or she is saying. These three moods are
the indicative mood,
the imperative mood, and
the subjunctive mood. Both the indicative and the imperative moods deal with actions or states in factual or real-world situations. The subjunctive mood, on the other hand, deals with actions or states only as possible, contingent, or conditional outcomes of a want, wish, preference, or uncertainty expressed by the speaker.
The indicative mood is, of course, the most familiar and most commonly used of the three moods.
It conveys the idea that an act or condition is (1) an objective fact, (2) an opinion, or (3) the subject of a question. Statements in the indicative mood seek to give the impression that the speaker is talking about real-world situations in a straightforward, truthful manner.
And from a usage standpoint, indicative statements have one very reassuring aspect: their operative verbs take their normal inflections in all the tenses and typically obey the subject-verb agreement rule at all times. Here are indicative sentences
stating an objective fact: “The Philippines is the world’s second largest labor exporter, next only to Mexico.” “Most manufactured consumer products are now being made in China.”
Stating an opinion: “Our client seems uninterested in the survey findings.” “We believe that the accused will eventually be acquitted of all the charges.”
And posing a question: “Who used my computer this morning?” “How do you justify this change of plan?”
The imperative mood, on the other hand, denotes that all-too-familiar attitude of a speaker who
(1) demands or orders a particular action, (2) makes a request or suggestion, (3) gives advice, or (4) states a prohibition. We all know that this mood uses the base form of the
operative verb (the verb’s infinitive form without the “to”), and is most often used in second-person, present-tense sentences that use an elliptical subject or the unstated second-person pronoun “you.”
Here are some imperative statements demanding a particular action: “Stop that car!” “Report to headquarters in ten minutes!”
Imperative sentences making a request or suggestion: “Please take your seats.” “Join me this afternoon to review the sales report.”
Imperative sentences giving advice: “Study your lessons well to pass tomorrow’s test.” “Get a good night’s sleep for tomorrow’s race.”
Imperative sentences that state a prohibition: “Don’t enter this one-way street.” “Avoid making any noise during the ceremony.”
The subjunctive mood, although it only has present-tense and past-tense forms, actually has a more varied and complex grammatical repertoire than the indicative and imperative. It can take several forms to
perform the following tasks: (1) indicate a possibility, (2) express a desire or wishful attitude, (3) express insistence on a particular action, (4) express doubt about a certain outcome, (5) describe an unreal situation or an idea contrary to fact, or (6) express a request or suggestion. Moreover, when it works in tandem with such auxiliary verbs as “could,” “would,” and “should,” the subjunctive can convey even more intricate and sophisticated shades of possibility and conditionality.
We will discuss these functions of the subjunctive in greater detail in the next essay.
This essay, which first appeared in my weekly column “English Plain and Simple” in The Manila Times
, subsequently became Chapter 77 of my book Giving Your English the Winning Edge
, ©2009 by the Manila Times Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.Next week:
How the subjunctive mood works (March 27, 2025)
Visit Jose Carillo’s English Forum, http://josecarilloforum.com. You can follow me on Facebook and X (Twitter) and e-mail me at j8carillo@yahoo.com.
