English subjunctive


The subjunctive mood in English is used to form sentences that express wished-for, tentatively assumed, or hypothetical states of affairs, rather than things that the speaker intends to represent as true and factual. These include statements that express opinion, belief, purpose, intention, or desire. The subjunctive mood, such as She suggests that he speak English, contrasts with the indicative mood, which is used for statements of fact, such as He speaks English.
In Modern English, the subjunctive form of a verb often looks identical to the indicative form, and thus subjunctives are not a very visible grammatical feature of English. For most verbs, the only distinct subjunctive form is found in the third person singular of the present tense, where the subjunctive lacks the -s ending: It is necessary that he see a doctor. The verb be, however, has not only a distinct present subjunctive but also a past subjunctive were.
These two tenses of the subjunctive have no particular connection in meaning with present and past time. Terminology varies; sometimes what is called the present subjunctive here is referred to simply as the subjunctive, and the form were may be treated just as an alternative irrealis form of was rather than a past subjunctive.
Another case where present-subjunctive forms are distinguished from indicatives is when they are negated: compare I recommend that they not enter the competition with I hope that they do not enter the competition.

Forms

English has present subjunctive and past subjunctive forms, which are often similar to the present indicative and past indicative forms. Note that these terms are used here merely as names for forms that verbs take; the use of "present subjunctive" and "past subjunctive" forms is not limited to referring to present and past time.
The present subjunctive is identical to the bare infinitive of the verb in all forms. This means that, for almost all verbs, the present subjunctive differs from the present indicative only in the third person singular form, which lacks the ending -s in the subjunctive.
;Present indicative: I own, you own, he owns, we own, they own
;Present subjunctive: I own, you own, he own, we own, they own
With the verb be, however, the two moods are fully distinguished:
;Present indicative: I am, you are, he is, we are, they are
;Present subjunctive: I be, you be, he be, we be, they be
Note also the defective verb beware, which lacks indicative forms, but has a present subjunctive: she beware…
The two moods are also fully distinguished when negated. Present subjunctive forms are negated by placing the word not before them.
;Present indicative: I do not own, you do not own, he does not own…; I am not…
;Present subjunctive: I not own, you not own, he not own…; I not be…
The past subjunctive exists as a distinct form only for the verb be, which has the form were throughout:
;Past indicative: I was, you were, he was, we were, they were
;Past subjunctive: I were, you were, he were, we were, they were
In the past tense, there is no difference between the two moods as regards manner of negation: I was not; I were not. Verbs other than be are described as lacking a past subjunctive, or possibly as having a past subjunctive identical in form to the past indicative: I owned; I did not own.
Certain subjunctives can also be distinguished from indicatives by the possibility of inversion with the subject, as described under below.

Compound forms, auxiliaries and modals

The subjunctive forms be, have, and were can also be used as auxiliaries, e.g.,
The English modal verbs do not have present subjunctive forms.
A construction with the modal should is frequently used as an alternative to the simple present subjunctive, e.g.,
The should form, in certain conditionals, can undergo inversion as described below.

Use of the present subjunctive

The main use of the English present subjunctive, called the mandative or jussive subjunctive, occurs in that clauses expressing a circumstance that is desired, demanded, recommended, necessary, or similar. Such a clause may be dependent on verbs like insist, suggest, demand, prefer, adjectives like necessary, desirable, or nouns like recommendation, necessity; it may be part of the expression in order that… ; it may also stand independently as the subject of a clause or as a predicative expression.
In fact this form can equally well be used in sentences referring to past, future or hypothetical time.
Examples:
Note that after some words, both indicative and subjunctive are possible, with difference in meaning:
This dual statement/directive use of verbs like insist, suggest and propose can lead to confusion as some, mainly British, speakers informally use the indicative and not the subjunctive, while others, especially Americans, strongly prefer the subjunctive.
Examples:
  1. Marjorie had insisted that Barbara spent the morning resting in her stateroom. As it was grey outside and the wind was markedly cooler, she was not deprived too much.
  2. Vivian wept as she felt so helpless to do anything for her little baby. She asked John to call Father O'Brien to baptize little Caroline and insisted that he went home to rest.
  3. He worked in an optical business off Baker Street, and I suggested that he studied lenses and optics, and got him into night school.
  4. Undaunted by mere appearances, Thornton proposed that he underwent an immediate tracheostomy and that he should be warmed by gentle massage and washing and be transfused with fresh lamb's blood!
  5. They were insistent that he checked it out. He was exhausted and right now all he wanted to do was to take his tired ass home and get some sleep.
  6. That's odd, because originally it was John who was adamant that we brought in a keyboard player.
Notice that the subjunctive is not generally used after verbs such as hope and expect, or after verbs that use a different syntax, such as want.
Another use of the present subjunctive is in clauses with the conjunction lest, which generally express a potential adverse event:
The present subjunctive is occasionally found in clauses expressing a probable condition, such as If I be found guilty…. This usage is mostly old-fashioned or excessively formal, although it is found in some common fixed expressions such as if need be.
Perhaps somewhat more common is the use after whether in the sense of "no matter whether": Whether they be friend or foe, we shall give them shelter. In both of these uses, it is possible to invert subject and verb and omit the conjunction; see below. Analogous uses are occasionally found after other conjunctions, such as unless, until, whoever, wherever, etc.: I shall not do it unless I be instructed; Whoever he be, he shall not go unpunished.
In most of the above examples a form with should can be used as an alternative: I insist that he should leave now etc. This is more common in British English than American English. In some cases, such as after in order that, another alternative is to use may or might:
A present subjunctive verb form is sometimes found in a main clause, with the force of a wish or a third person imperative. This is most common nowadays in established phrases, such as bless you, God save the Queen, heaven forbid, peace be with you, truth be told, so be it, suffice it to say, long live…, woe betide… It is used more broadly in some archaic or literary English. An equivalent construction is that with may and subject-verb inversion: May God bless you etc.
See also below.

Use of the past subjunctive

The only distinct past subjunctive form in English is were, which differs when used with a first or third person singular subject. As with the present subjunctive, the name past subjunctive refers to the form of the verb rather than its meaning; it need not refer to past time.
The main use of the past subjunctive form, were, which is also known as the irrealis is in counterfactual if clauses :
The simple past form was is very common in sentences of this type, though the Random House College Dictionary states "Although the subjunctive seems to be disappearing from the speech of many, its proper use is still a mark of the educated speaker." When were is used, an inverted form without if is possible ; this is not possible with was. A common expression involving were is if I were you.
The same principles of usage apply to the compound past subjunctive form were to…, which appears in 'second conditional' condition clauses, usually with hypothetical future reference:
The past subjunctive form may be used similarly to express counterfactual conditions after suppose, as if, as though, unless, imagine etc.
There is also the set expression as it were.
The past subjunctive can also be used in some that clauses expressing a wish contrary to fact or unlikely to be fulfilled :
However, the use of the subjunctive with words such as wish is seldom obligatory.
The example with would rather can be cast in the present subjunctive, expressing greater confidence that the action is feasible: I would rather she be released.
See also below.

Distinguishing from past indicative after ''if''

Confusion sometimes arises in the case of if clauses containing an ordinary past indicative was.
When if means when, the indicative is the proper mood.
  1. If/when he was walking down the road, he used to whistle.
compared with:
  1. If he were to walk down the road, he might whistle.
Compare also:
  1. If he was in class yesterday, he learned it.
  2. If he were in class today, he would be learning it.
The first if clause contains a simple past indicative, referring to past time. The second, however, expresses a counterfactual circumstance connected with the present, and therefore contains a past subjunctive.
The "past subjunctive" form were is also used by some as an alternative to the backshifted indicative was following if or whether in indirect speech or thought, for example:
As noted in the sections above, some clauses containing subjunctive verb forms, or other constructions that have the function of subjunctives, may exhibit subject–auxiliary inversion.
The most common example of this is in condition clauses, where inversion is accompanied by the omission of the conjunction if. This is described in more detail at. The principal constructions are:
Inversion is also possible in the case of the use of the present subjunctive in condition clauses, and in other clauses with somewhat different meaning, where the omitted conjunction would be something like whether, although or even if. These are generally archaic, except for some instances where the meaning of the clause is "no matter whether … or … ".
In some examples, preserved in set expressions and well-known phrases, inversion may take place with non-auxiliary verbs: come what may; come Monday. There are also imperative-type uses such as Long live the King! A more common way of expressing such jussives is with inversion of the auxiliary may: May they always be happy!

Historical forms

The first table below shows the present and past subjunctive endings in use at various stages of the development of English: in Old English, Middle English, Early Modern English and Modern English. Forms that differ from the corresponding indicative are bolded. -∅ denotes zero ending.
For comparison, the corresponding indicative endings are also given:
The irregular verb be has a larger number of distinct forms, these being derived from different stems. See the articles on be, am, is, were, etc.
As the tables show, in Early Modern English the past subjunctive was distinguishable from the past indicative not only in the verb to be, but also in the informal second-person singular of all verbs. For example: indicative thou sattest, but subjunctive thou sat. The -st ending was also absent in principle in the present subjunctive; nonetheless, it was sometimes added; for example, thou beëst appears frequently as a present subjunctive in the works of Shakespeare and some of his contemporaries.

Archaic uses

Subjunctive verb forms were formerly used more widely in English than they are today. Cases of such usage can be encountered in samples of archaic or pseudo-archaic English, and in certain set expressions that have been preserved in the modern language.
Examples of subjunctive uses in archaic English:
Examples of set expressions that preserve "fossilized", archaic subjunctive uses: