The subjunctive mood in English is less developed than in Latin.

I COMMITTED at least one gaffe in my previous article entitled Words that look or sound alike (MOE, 7 May 2010). The opening sentence of the article read: “The other day my friend ... suggested that I wrote about the words continuing, continual, and continuous” (the underline not in the original). Kee Thuan Chye, founder and retired editor of the MOE page, promptly sent me an SMS asking why I used the word wrote instead of write. I replied that I wrote wrote to follow from and accord with suggested, a verb in the past tense in the indicative mood. I soon had second thoughts, and realised that I should have used the word write, instead of wrote, in the said sentence. Thank you, Mr Kee, for having hinted about the gaffe.

Moods in grammar

The above is an exercise in the use of a verb in the subjunctive mood. In grammar, mood is “a form of the verb to express the mode or manner of an action or of a state of being” (Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary, 1974); “a set of categories for which the verb is inflected in many languages, and which is typically used to indicate the syntactic relation of the clause in which the verb occurs to other clauses in the sentence, or the attitude of the speaker toward what he is saying, as certainty or uncertainty, wish or command, emphasis or hesitancy” (The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, 1973).

In English, as in Latin, there are three moods: (1) the indicative, in which the verb-form pertains to the stating of a fact in a straightforward manner (He came to town), or involves the asking of a question involving a fact (Did he come to town?); (2) the imperative, in which the verb-form expresses a command, exhortation, plea, or invocation and is in the form of the infinitive (base form) of the verb, irrespective of number and person of the subject (<Come to the office now.> <Do not interrupt when I am speaking.> <Let us plant the tree here.>); and (3) the subjunctive, in which the verb-form “expresses doubts, wishes, and possibilities” (Encarta World English Dictionary, 1999). [Incidentally, the Concise Oxford English Dictionary (2004) in its definition has expanded the number of moods, thus: ”a form or category of a verb expressing fact (indicative mood), command (imperative mood), question (interrogative mood), wish (optative mood), or conditionality (subjunctive mood)”. It will have been noted that COED’s interrogative mood is included in the traditional indicative mood, and that its optative mood can be subsumed into the traditional subjunctive mood, as elaborated below.]

Unlike in Latin where verbs are conjugated for voice (active, passive), mood (indicative, imperative, subjunctive), tense (simple present, present perfect, simple past, past perfect, simple future, future perfect), person (first, second, third), and number (singular, plural), English verbs are much simpler in the sense that they have much fewer inflections to represent the various verb-forms – particularly for the subjunctive mood.

Latin has a full set of inflections for verbs in the subjunctive. In contrast, the English subjunctive does not have any special verb-forms. Instead, verbs in the subjunctive are indicated by (1) context or fixed expressions (<as it were> <be that as it may> <come what may> <far be it from me to> <so be it>, <the powers that be>); (2) the use of the basic form (infinitive) of a verb, without regard to the grammatical number of the subject of the verb (the teacher suggested that she write on etiquette); (3) a special sentence construction, with some departure from the usual word-order (till death do us part = till death do part us = till death part us); (4) the use of the common verb-form without regard to a sequence of tenses (I wish that it had been yesterday), where a simple past or a present perfect tense – rather than the pluperfect used – would agree with the simple-present-tense verb in the main clause; and (5) the use of a plural verb without regard to subject-and-verb agreement, as when the plural verb is used instead of the singular (I wish he were here).

Verbs in the subjunctive

The following are some examples of verbs in the subjunctive:

(1) In a simple sentence, to express a desire or wish (specifically certain forms of a wish) – the sentence contains an auxiliary verb such as may or should or would to indicate the subjunctive mood, and it may be constructed with some departure from the usual word-order.

May you live to a hundred!

God bless you (not a sentence in the indicative mood where the construction would be <God blesses you>, with subject-verb agreement) = Bless you (a shortened version, not a sentence in the imperative mood) = May God bless you.

God save the queen (not <God saves the queen> in the indicative mood, nor <God, save the queen> in the imperative mood) = May God save the queen

Long live the king! (not <Long lives the king>) = May the king live long!

Woe is me (not <woe is I>) = woe is (to) me

Woe be the day when he becomes the king = woe (will) be the day when ... . [Note: be is used not as a verb in the imperative mood but as a finite verb — although in the form of an infinitive — in the subjunctive.]

(2) In a simple sentence, in the form of a question, to express a request. {Note, however, that in informal speech, the indicative is used instead of the subjunctive.]

Could you please open the door? [Note: The alternative construction in the indicative <Can you open the door?> merely asks the other person whether he is able to open the door (which may be jammed), rather than requesting him to open the door.] The given question could be deemed impolite, so that it is best to put it into context. It could have started as <Could you open the door please?>; then as <Could you open the door> (which is the given example – no more “please”); then as (now in the imperative mood); then, with shouting, as ; and finally in exasperation .]

(3) In the principal clause of a complex sentence, to express an unfulfilled wish or event

Would that I had died for thee!

If he had come to town that day, he would have been caught in the riot, which is equivalent to the inverted construction <Had he come to town that day, he would have been caught in the riot.>

(4) In the subordinate clause of a complex sentence, to express a wish that is unreal, impossible, or very unlikely to happen

I wish (that) I were king

I wish (that) it were true. [Note: The subordinate clause expresses a wish that is very unlikely to happen – the subject of the clause is singular but the following verb is plural and in the past tense. Compare with the somewhat similar sentence <I wish (that) it was true>, where the verb in the subordinate clause is not in the subjunctive because it expresses a wish that possibly could have happened.]

I wish you would spend more time in the library. [Note would spend (in subjunctive mood) rather than will spend (in indicative mood).]

(5) In an if-clause (a subordinate clause beginning with if) to indicate an impossible condition or an unreal or highly improbable situation. The form were is also used in clauses introduced by as if, as though, or supposing” (Encarta World English Dictionary, 1999)

If I were (not was) rich, I would give a share of my wealth to every known relative. [Note: It is not necessary for the subjunctive mood to be used in every conditional clause introduced by if. For a simple supposition involving a practical condition (where the condition can possibly be met), verbs in the indicative mood are used, as in the following: If it rains for even one hour, this stretch of road will be flooded.

(6) In a that-clause (a subordinate clause beginning with that), following verbs such as ask, demand, insist, propose, suggest, recommend, etc. – the verb in the subordinate clause being in the basic form (infinitive) without regard to person or number

The doctor recommended that he complete the course of antibiotic without fail (not completes, to agree with the third person singular, nor completed to agree with the past tense in the main clause) = The doctor recommended that he should complete the course of antibiotic without fail.

The meeting decided that he be expelled from the association = The meeting decided that he should be expelled from the association.

(7) In a that-clause which is the complement of such expressions as it is a rule that, it was resolved that, where the verb in the subordinate clause is in the base form (infinitive) without regard to grammatical person or number.

It is laid down by law that all motor vehicles be licensed = It is laid down by law that all motor vehicles should be licensed.

(8) In a lest-clause (a subordinate clause beginning with lest). “Lest remains one of the very few contexts in English where the subjunctive mood is, strictly speaking, required” (Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 2004)

The nurse used a face mask lest she be infected.

Closing remark

The subjunctive is said to be disappearing from the English language. “In modern English the subjunctive tends to convey a more formal tone, but there are few people who would regard its absence as actually wrong” (Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 2004).

The subject has been dealt with at some length by Fowler (Fowler, H.W., 1975. A Dictionary of Modern English Usage. Second ed. rev. Sir Ernes Gowers. Oxford University Press)), Onions (Onions, C.T., 1971. An Advanced English Syntax. Messsrs Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd), and Partridge (Partridge, E., 1973. Usage and Abusage. England: Penguin Books Ltd).

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