The subjunctive
THE SUBJUNCTIVE
The subjunctive is a special, relatively rare verb form in English.
Construction of the Subjunctive
The structure of the subjunctive is extremely simple. For all verbs except the past tense of to be, the subjunctive is the same as the bare infinitive (infinitive without "to"):
to be (Past): I were; you were; he, she, it were; we were; you were; they were
to be (Present): I be; you be; he, she, it be; we be; you be; they be
to work (Past & Present): I work; you work; he, she, it work; we work; you work; they work
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
• hopes 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.
In negative sentences there is just NOT
• The boss insisted that the deputy financial manager not be at the meeting.
I WERE?
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 | Informal |
|---|---|
| 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! |
| She acts as if she were the Queen | She acts as if she was the Queen. |
Long live the Queen!
The subjunctive is often used in phrases:
God bless you!
He's a sort of adopted uncle, as it were.
Be that as it may.
If we have to go there, then so be it.
WORD FORMATION – some more ways to form words
Lesson 17 focused on word formation using prefixes and suffixes. This lesson will show you some other ways to form new words.
1) CLIPPING
Clipping cuts long words shorter. It is typical for first names: Michael – – – Mike, Robert – – – Bob, Thomas – Tom. The same thing can happen with nouns. Some words lose their beginnings, others lose endings.
Doctor – doc, hamburger – burger, advertisment – ad, laboratory – lab, facsimilie – fax
Such shortened new words often replace the original words.
2) BLENDING
Nouns are often combined to make compounds with new meanings:
Town + house = townhouse
School + bus = schoolbus
In some cases, parts of the words are lost. Such new words are called blends:
Breakfast + lunch = BRUNCH
Smoke + fog = SMOG
Information + commercial = INFOMERCIAL