Practical grammar

Agnieszka Piasecka
Department of English Studies

SUBJUNCTIVE

Present Subjunctive is used in exclamations to express a wish or hope, very

often involving supernatural powers.
The queen lives here. (simple present tense)
Long live the queen! (present subjunctive)
God bless you! God forgive you!
Heaven help us! Heaven be praised!
Damn you! Curse this fog!
In formal language (e.g. legal documents) the subjunctive is used after if and
whatever:
If any person be found guilty...
... whatever be the reason...
Often used in poetry to express a wish or in clauses of condition or concession:
Fair the day shine as it shone in my childhood. (I hope it will shine)
If this be error, and upon me proved... (if this is error)
Though the heart be still loving ... (though the heart is loving)
In the expression: if need be
If need be we can always bring another car.
With certain verbs which are followed by should+infinitive. Should is frequently
omitted (esp in Am. Eng):
He suggested that a petition be drawn up.
I recommended that each competitor receive $10.
It is vital that she be warned before it's too late.

Unreal Past (Subjunctive) the same form as ordinary past tense, except for
were
Used in some conditional sentences:
If he were to tell us, we could try to solve this problem. (was is not
possible here)
Were he to tell us, we ....
In the expression: as it were
He is a sort of Japanese Marlon Brando, as it were. (so to speak)
Used after wish and if only:
I wish I knew his address. = I'm sorry I don't know his address.
He wished he knew the address. =He was sorry he didn't know... (wish
can be put into the past without changing the subjunctive)
The subjunctive doesn't change in indirect speech:
I wish I lived nearer my work.
He said he wished he lived nearer his work.
Practical grammar
Agnieszka Piasecka
Department of English Studies

I wish I hadn't spent so much money. =I'm sorry I spent ...

I wished I hadn't spent so much money. = I was sorry I had spent ...
If only can be used in the same way, but it is more dramatic.
as if, as though
He behaves as if he owned the place. (but he doesn't own it)
He orders me as though I were his wife. (but I am not)
He talked as though he knew everything. (no change of subjunctive after
a past verb)
He looks as if he hadn't eaten for a month. (referring to the past)
would rather/sooner, it is time
I would rather wait till tomorrow. (the same subject, infinitive without
to)
I'd rather you gave it to me now.
I'd rather he painted it blue.
It is time (for us) to go. (the correct time has arrived)
It's time we went. (it is a little late)
It's high time we were leaving.