In Modern English -> three grammatical moods: indicative, subjunctive, and imperative

The Subjunctive Mood shows that the action or state expressed by the verb is
presented as a non fact, as something imaginary or desired. The Subjunctive Mood is
also used to express an emotional attitude of the speaker to real facts. In Modern
English the Subjunctive Mood has synthetic and analytical forms.

English Grammar and Practice. A text-based approach (Nadina Vișan and Ruxandra Vișan, 2013)

(1) ‘I wish I had a girl as white as snow!’

-> ‘had’ in this example is no past tense, but a subjunctive form

Present -> I wish I had a dollar (I might get one, after all). / Aş vrea să am un dolar.
Past -> I wish I had listened to him (so why didn’t I?). / Aş vrea să-l fi ascultat.

The underlined structures are in fact subjunctive forms, present and past respectively. The
Romanian translation shows you that the present subjunctive form roughly corresponds to a
present ‘conjunctive’ one in Romanian, while the past form matches a perfect ‘conjunctive’ one. In
the first case, the possibility that the wish will be fulfilled exists, whereas in the second case, there
is no way this wish can be fulfilled any more.

a) looking at the context in which it appears: for instance, in the case of (1) the main verb wish should warn you
that a subjunctive form is required to complete it
b) looking at the meaning of the structure: if it has a hypothetical meaning, it probably is a subjunctive
c) translating it: if it can be translated through a conjunctive/conditional form in Romanian, then it is likely to be
a subjunctive

-- The Subjunctive vs. the Indicative

THE SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD THE INDICATIVE MOOD

 2 tenses (present and perfect)  16 tenses

 prescriptive (like the imprative mood)  descriptive
 hypothetical, counterfactual  factual

Indirect Speech instances

DS: Anne: I wish I had more money. (Present

Subjunctive)
IS: Anne told Bill she wished she had more
money. (Present Subjunctive) DS: Anne: I want to go home. (Present

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 Simple)
DS: Anne: If you gave me your book, I would IS: Anne told Bill she wanted to go home.
lend you my bike. (Present Subjunctive, Present (Past Simple)
Conditional)
IS: Anne told Bill she would lend him her bike if
he gave her his book. (Present Conditional,
Present Subjunctive)

the synthetic/analytic opposition is related to a grammatical phenomenon that is by no

means restricted to the Subjunctive. English has pairs of synthetic and analytic forms in
other areas, too. Consider the table below:

SYNTHETIC STRUCTURES ANALYTIC STRUCTURES

(fusion between main item and the (grammatical information is carried
grammatical information) by a separate lexical item)

Subjunctive: I wish I went to the Subjunctive: I wish it would rain.

party.

Comparative: bigger than him, Comparative: more interesting than

biggest him

Genitive: Susan’s, father’s car Genitive: the complete works of

Shakespeare

The table above makes a distinction between the two main types of Subjunctive that we can speak of, i.e.
the Synthetic and the Analytic ones. The Synthetic type can be further split into two subtypes, the so
called ‘old’ Subjunctive (also called ‘the formulaic subjunctive’) and the ‘new’ Subjunctive, which is in
fact the most frequently used one:

THE ‘SYNTHETIC’ SUBJUNCTIVE THE ‘ANALYTIC’ SUBJUNCTIVE

Old
Present: play
E.g. Long live the
queen!
I’d rather play chess
than stay here. (I might)
Perfect*: have played
E.g. I’d rather have
played chess with Susie
when she visited us
(why didn’t I?)
! The star (*) indicates that the form is infrequently used in English.
New
Present: played
I wish I played chess
with you. (I might.)
Perfect: had played
I wish I had played
chess with you (why
didn’t I?)
Present: should/could/may/might play
E.g. It’s odd that they should play chess so well
when they are so young.
Perfect*: should/could/may/might have
played
E.g. It’s odd that they should have played chess
so well last week.

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The tables below deal with the various contexts that require the presence of the subjunctive types
presented above.

CONTEXTS FOR THE

Old New
In independent sentences: Independent sentences:
Long live the Queen. Come what may, Oh, had I wings!
So be it, Grammar be hanged, Damn him, If only I had known!
Far be it from me…

In subordinate clauses: Subordinate clauses:

 after would rather (the same subject  after if **and any other item containing ‘if’ (if
for main and subordinate clauses) only, suppose, supposing, what if, as if/though,
I’d rather tell you about it./I’d rather have even if/though, say, as long as, unless):
told you about it. If Bill got married, he would be miserable./
If Bill had got married, he would have been
 after had better miserable.
You’d better tell her about it./ You’d  after wish/ it’s time/would rather
better have told her about it*. I would rather you went there/ I would rather you had
gone there. (here the subject of the main clause is not
 after verbs of command, wish: the same as the subject of the subordinate).
It is important that he behave himself.
! The star (*) indicates that the perfect form is infrequently used in English.
** All these elements can also be followed by Present simple (but with a different shade of
meaning):
E.g. If you go there, I will be very disappointed. / He behaves as if he loves her.

CONTEXTS FOR THE

Independent sentences Subordinate clauses

May you live long and have a beautiful  after verbs of command, wish:
life. Dan insisted that she should date him.
May he be happy for as long as he  after copula + evaluative adjectives:
lives. It is advisable/ important/good that he should meet his teacher
soon.
 after purpose/sequence introductory items: so that, so…
that, in order that, lest*, for fear that, in case
I hid the secret from him for fear/in case he might want to use it
against her.
 after concessive introductory items**: no matter,
how/whatever, as etc.:
Now matter how much he might know about her, she still won’t
listen to him.
Smart as he may be, he still can’t read.
Try as I might, I couldn’t uncork the bottle.
* this introductory item is obsolete, no longer used
** all these items can also be followed by an indicative form, with a slightly different meaning (the speaker
assumes that the action of the subordinate is accomplished)
Compare: Smart as he is, I still don’t like him. vs. Smart as he may be, I still don’t like him. (In the first
case, I assume he is indeed smart).

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Also (from unpublished courses by Larisa Avram, Maura Cotfas)
The subjunctive in that-complement clauses
TRIGGERS of the subjunctive: a) lexical items of b) functional elements
a. Lexical: verbs/adjectives/nouns/

b. Functional: negation in the main clause (not on the lexical operator)

 Lexical triggers

I. EXERCITIVE Verbs/predicates (of command & of permission) = “give a decision in favour/against

a certain course of action” / “imperative”;

Vs: order, forbid, ask, insist, suggest, recommend, urge, advise, allow, authorize, permit, interdict,
command, beg, rule, prohibit, require//

Adj: advisable, obligatory, imperative, compulsory desirable

- such triggers introduce imperative sentences’: the time sphere of the complement is FUTURE:

*He ordered [that he should have left. / He demands [that he (should) be told everything.]

II. VOLITIONAL predicates = they introduce a set of alternative worlds

Ex: wish, desire, want, prefer, willing, eager, reluctant, anxious, etc.

I am anxious [that he should get the job.] (analytic subj.)

I wish [I had told you about it.] (synthetic)

 Dual/Double Mood Choice (lexical) triggers (indicative or subjunctive)

III. EVALUATIVE predicates

(good, right, best, better, awful, annoying, crucial, important, essential, natural, normal, vital, advisable,
amazing, odd, tragic, nice // amaze, alarm, bother, surprise, irritate, disturb, regret, deplore, etc.)

! All evaluative predicates can take the indicative or the subjunctive

Because of their meaning: they have both:

(i) a descriptive component

(ii) a prescriptive component

- choice of the indicative stresses the descriptive component of the predicate (the factive
component, i.e., that p is presupposed to be true; description of a fact of the world)

- choice of the subjunctive stresses the prescriptive component of the predicate (focus on the
ideal

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 a.It is best [that he is going there today]

(it is a fact/it is established/known that he is ...). /

b. It is best [that he should be going there today.]

(his going there is preferable, wished for, the ideal; but nothing assures it will take place,
it is possible, prescriptive, does NOT hold of the real world)

a.It is essential [that the book was published]

(it is a fact that the book was indeed published (i.e., I have it in my hands right now).

b.It is essential [that the book be published.]

(the publishing of the book is a possible/preferable event in the future)

IV. Verbs of COMMUNICATION (agree, tell, say, confess, declare, explain, inform, state, point out,
persuade, warn, etc. )

- used as assertive Vs, they combine with the indicative (a);

- used as exercitive Vs, they combine with the subjunctive (b)

a. The secretary informed the Dean [that the students will take the exam on the 5th] /

b.The secretary informed the students [that they should take the exam on the 5th]

 Functional Triggers: NEGATION

a. I believe [that he is here.] / b. *I believe [that he should be here.]

- ‘believe’ (in the affirmative) selects an indicative complement clause.

However, once negation appears in the main clause, it is able to license the presence of the
subjunctive in the complement clause. The same is true for the Romanian ‘a crede’ (see (25)) + similar
phenomenon in other Romance languages

(24) a. I don’t believe [that he is here.] /b. I don’t believe [that he should be here.]

(25) a. Cred [că Ion a sosit devreme]/ b. * Cred [să sosească Ion devreme]

c. Nu cred [că Ion a sosit devreme]/ Nu cred [să sosească Ion devreme]

This is called the contrary to expectations subjunctive, and it is also found with: doubt, complain,
reproach, etc. (lexical predicates which include an element of doubt/ uncertainty/ implicit negation)

I doubt [that he should succeed.]

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The subjunctive (analytic or synthetic) in other types of embedded clauses (adverbial clauses)

--In Conditional Clauses

a.[If he were my friend], he would speak for my cause.

b.I’d he angry [if you told him about the party.]

c. [Should he come], I’ll ask him about his mother.

--In Adverbial Clauses of Purpose

a. He steals so that he may become rich.

b. I locked myself into my study so that I should not be disturbed.

c. Extraordinary precautions were taken for fear the journalist may find out about the kidnapped
politician.

--In Adverbial Clauses of Concession

a. His manner, stern though it (may) be, was not unkind.

b. Whoever they (may/might) be, he was never at home for them.

--In Comparative Clauses

a.He treats us as if we were retarded./ b.I feel better with them than if I lived by myself.