Study Unit 2

TENSE AND MOOD IN THAT-COMPLEMENT CLAUSES

Reported Speech

That-complement clauses can be used to express factual information which is reported, known,
believed or perceived, as in (a); it can be used to make proposals and suggestions, as in (b) and to
describe situations which produce an emotive effect on the subject, as in (c):

a. He always believes [that he is right].

b. The chairman proposed [that a vote be/should be taken].
c. I am amazed [that she feels/should feel so confident].

2.1. The Indicative Mood in that-complement clauses

Facts are expressed by a that-complement clause containing a verb in the indicative mood. This
represents an indirect statement and follows:
- verbs of knowing and perceiving: know, believe, think, imagine, dream, conclude, gather, infer,
find, discover, realise, observe, see, sense, etc.:

I gather [you have lived broad for some time].

Did you infer from her sudden departure [that she was annoyed]?

- verbs of communication: say, tell, announce, answer that introduce reports of spoken utterances:

You never mentioned [that you got married].

A spokesman explained [that stocks were decreasing rapidly].

When reported, statements undergo certain changes in the spatial and temporal perspective which
are reflected in the particular use of the pronominal, adverbial and tense systems.

2.1.1. Quoted vs. Reported Speech

Human verbal interaction does not always involve direct exchange of opinions in long stretches of
dialogue, it sometimes may mean that spoken utterances have to be encoded into reports and, at
other times, reports of spoken discourse have to be decoded:
Jane said, “I like that book.” direct speech, exact quotation
Jane said that she liked that book. indirect speech, a report of someone’s words

Reported speech (traditionally called ‘indirect speech’ as in Greenbaum & Quirk 1991: 297-301,
Quirk et al (1985: 1020-1033) is characterized by a series of formal features which distinguish it
from quoted (‘direct’) speech. They have the effect of shifting all deictic elements away from
direct reference to the speech situation. The shifts involved are as follows:

1. The reporter is generally someone other than the original speaker. Equally, the receiver of the
report is likely to be different from the person who received the original message.

2. Reports are often given in a different place from where the original words were spoken, and at
a later time. It is therefore necessary to change adverbs of time and place, so that words like today,
tomorrow, here, mean the same at the time and place of the report as in the original utterance:

I’ll meet you here at the same time tomorrow.

He said he’d meet me there at the same time the following day.

3. Reported statements are introduced by a reporting verb. The most frequently used reporting
verb, say, is immediately followed by a that-complement clause, although that is frequently
omitted. The verb tell must be followed by a NP denoting the person spoken to:

‘I’m feeling hungry’.

He said (that) he was feeling hungry.
He told Jane/her he was feeling hungry.

Very often the verb say takes an appropriate adverb of manner to indicate the way in which
something was said: pompously, brutally, accusingly, defiantly, derisively, sympathetically,
patiently, agreeably, complacently, fiercely, etc.:

He said angrily that they had been late for the meeting.

4. Depending on whether the reporting verb in the matrix/main clause is in the present or in the
past, the sequencing of actions or situations has to be done by means of appropriate tense forms in
the complement clauses.

2.1.2. The sequence of tenses

The use of tenses in complement clauses is normally explained in terms of the rules of ‘sequence
of tenses’. The sequence of tenses is considered to be a set of formal rules which automatically
‘backshift’ tenses after a past introductory verb. The complement clause represents its situation as
temporally related to the situation of its main clause. Thus, the application of the sequence of tenses
predicts the grammaticality of the following examples:

Bill believed [that he had seen a ghost]. (anteriority)

John said [that he was ill]. (simultaneity)
Betty threatened [that she would leave him]. (posteriority)

The choice of the tense in the that-complement clause: past perfect, past or future-in-the-past
suggests an action which is simultaneous, anterior or posterior respectively in relation to that
expressed by the verb in the main clause.

When the introductory verb is in a present tense, different tenses are used to express the same
temporal relationships (past or present perfect for an anterior action, present for a simultaneous
action and future for a posterior one):

John says [that Bill betrayed/has betrayed him]. (anteriority)

I think [he is right]. (simultaneity)
I know [that he will come tomorrow]. (posteriority)

However, the sequence of tenses cannot account for the grammaticality of the following sentences
in which the complement clause does not use the expected tense:

Bill said [that John will arrive tomorrow].

He told me [that he has a house in New York].
The Chairman declared [that no decision has been made yet].

Such examples are treated as exceptions to the rule. The content of the complement clause is still
felt to be true at the moment of speaking.

2.2 The Subjunctive mood in that-complement clauses.

The meaning of the subjunctive mood

The meaning of the subjunctive mood is best revealed by a comparison with the indicative mood:

I am sure [that he is here now]. (indicative mood)

We are insistent [that he be ready]. (subjunctive mood)

The indicative mood represents an action or a state as a fact or as in close relationship to reality.
The subjunctive represents an action or a state not as an actual reality, but as merely existent in the
mind of the speaker as a desire, wish, volition, plan, demand, requirement, and eventuality,
something with more or less hope of realization.
Indicative clauses have a temporal orientation due to the category tense. Subjunctive clauses lack
temporal orientation, but they may have perfective aspect signaling anteriority with respect to a
reference point:

It is amazing [that the Leaning Tower of Pisa should have stood for so long].
It was absurd [that she should have got so angry over a burnt dinner].

From the point of view of their function in speech, the indicative mood is informative, i.e. it
conveys information about reality, while the subjunctive mood is evaluative, and i.e. it evaluates
and decides upon actions (cf. Greenbaum 1996: 268).

2.2.1. The analytical/synthetic subjunctive

It is essential [that every child should have the same educational opportunities].
It is essential [that every child have the same educational opportunities].

The subjunctive with should is traditionally known as the analytical subjunctive and it is typical
of British English. The subjunctive identical in form with the infinitive is called the synthetic
subjunctive and it is commonly used in American English.

Be, as a subjunctive form, is not conjugated as in the indicative mood (I am, you are, etc., or I was,
you he were, etc.). The subjunctive form be is used in all persons:

It is important [that Helen be present when we sign the papers].

Do is not used in negative subjunctives:

We considered it desirable [that he not leave school before finishing his exams].

2.2.2. The distribution of the subjunctive mood

The subjunctive mood may be required by those verbs, adjectives or nouns in the main clause that
match its non-assertive nature:

a. The subjunctive is selected only by those verbs which are compatible with its potential nature:
The subjunctive is required after verbs of command: ask, beg, advise, demand, instruct, prohibit,
forbid, recommend, suggest, etc.:

They recommended [that people vote/should vote for the offer].

Verbs of permission: allow, authorize, forbid, suffer, permit, interdict, can’t bear/stand, etc.:

The committee allowed [that the bridge be/ should be rebuilt].

Verbs of communication: arrange, agree, tell, say, confess, declare, explain, inform, point out,
convince, persuade, suggest:

Nick told Suzy [that she go/should go to the dentist’s].

b. The largest group with which the subjunctive is consistently used is that of the emotive
adjectives functioning as predicatives. These express an emotional evaluation of a state of affairs:
good, right, best, better, bad, important, inconvenient, essential, natural, necessary, unlikely,
unnatural, etc.:

It is important [that children learn/ should learn to share things].

It was surprising [that they meet/ should meet at all].

c. Nominalizations of the above predicates and nouns of related semantic content may also govern
the Subjunctive: wish, wonder, suggestion, request, surprise, etc.:

Our advice is [that the company invest/ should invest in new equipment].
It’s a wonder [that they come/ should come so early].