Subjunctive : Uses & Formation

Uses

 In modern English, the Simple Present Subjunctive is most commonly used in formal commands and requests. In the following examples, the verbs in the Simple Present Subjunctive are underlined.

e.g. They demand that he submit a report.
We request that you be here tomorrow.

The Simple Present Subjunctive is also still used in a few traditional expressions.
e.g. Long live the King!

The past tenses of the Subjunctive, and the auxiliary would, are used in expressing wishes.
e.g. I wish you were here.
I wish I had known that.
I wish the rain would stop.

The past tenses of the Subjunctive, and the auxiliary would, can also be used in order to indicate that conditions being expressed are false or improbable.
e.g. If I were rich, I would travel around the world.
If he had been here, he would have been glad to see you.

In the first example, the use of the Simple Past Subjunctive were and the Simple conjugation with would indicates that the condition expressed in the clause If I were rich is false or improbable. In the second example, the use of the Past Perfect Subjunctive had been, and the Perfect conjugation with would, indicates that the condition expressed in the clause If he had been here is false.

Formation

The English past and present tenses discussed in previous chapters are in what is usually referred to as the Indicative Mood. Each of the past and present tenses in the Indicative Mood has a corresponding tense in the Subjunctive Mood.

In modern English, most verb tenses in the Subjunctive Mood are similar or identical to the corresponding tenses in the Indicative Mood. It should be noted that verbs in the Subjunctive Mood do not modify, but have the same form regardless of the subject.

The Simple Present Subjunctive and Simple Past Subjunctive of the verb to be are shown below. The Indicative forms are also given, for purposes of comparison. The Subjunctive forms which differ from the corresponding Indicative forms are shown in bold type.

The simple indicative and subjunctive tenses of the verb To BeSimple Present

Indicative	Subjunctive
I am	I be
you are	you be
he is	he be
she is	she be
it is	it be
we are	we be
they are	they be

Simple Past

Indicative	Subjunctive
I was	I were
you were	you were
he was	he were
she was	she were
it was	it were
we were	we were
they were	they were

For any verb, the Simple Present Subjunctive is formed from the bare infinitive of the verb.

For any verb except the verb to be, the Simple Past Subjunctive is identical to the Simple Past Indicative.

For all of the past and present tenses conjugated with auxiliaries, the Subjunctive tenses are formed in the same way as the Indicative tenses, except that the Subjunctive of the auxiliaries is used.

Using the example of the verb to work, the following table compares the tenses of the Indicative and Subjunctive Moods. The Subjunctive forms which differ from the corresponding Indicative forms are printed in bold type.

The indicative and subjunctive tenses of the verb To WorkSimple Present

Indicative	Subjunctive
I work	I work
you work	you work
he works	he work
she works	she work
it works	it work
we work	we work
they work	they work

Present Continuous

Indicative	Subjunctive
I am working	I be working
you are working	you be working
he is working	he be working
she is working	she be working
it is working	it be working
we are working	we be working
they are working	they be working

Present Perfect

Indicative	Subjunctive
I have worked	I have worked
you have worked	you have worked
he has worked	he have worked
she has worked	she have worked
it has worked	it have worked
we have worked	we have worked
they have worked	they have worked

Present Perfect Continuous

Indicative	Subjunctive
I have been working	I have been working
you have been working	you have been working
he has been working	he have been working
she has been working	she have been working
it has been working	it have been working
we have been working	we have been working
they have been working	they have been working

Simple Past

Indicative	Subjunctive
I worked	I worked
you worked	you worked
he worked	he worked
she worked	she worked
it worked	it worked
we worked	we worked
they worked	they worked

Past Continuous

Indicative	Subjunctive
I was working	I were working
you were working	you were working
he was working	he were working
she was working	she were working
it was working	it were working
we were working	we were working
they were working	they were working

Past Perfect

Indicative	Subjunctive
I had worked	I had worked
you had worked	you had worked
he had worked	he had worked
she had worked	she had worked
it had worked	it had worked
we had worked	we had worked
they had worked	they had worked

Past Perfect Continuous

Indicative	Subjunctive
I had been working	I had been working
you had been working	you had been working
he had been working	he had been working
she had been working	she had been working
it had been working	it had been working
we had been working	we had been working
they had been working	they had been working

The following table summarizes the formation of the English Subjunctive tenses:

Tense	Auxiliary	Verb Form
Simple Present	do	bare infinitive
Present Continuous	be	present participle
Present Perfect	have	past participle
Present Perfect Continuous	have been	present participle
Simple Past	did	bare infinitive
Past Continuous	were	present participle
Past Perfect	had	past participle
Past Perfect Continuous	had been	present participle

Formal Command and Request

The Simple Present Subjunctive was once more extensively used than it is today. In modern American English, the Simple Present Subjunctive is still used in clauses beginning with the word that which express formal commands or requests. In the following examples, the word that is printed in bold type, and the verbs in the Simple Present Subjunctive are underlined.
e.g. They requested that she arrive early.
It is important that they be present at the meeting.
The demand that he provide identification will create a delay.The main clauses of the preceding examples are they requested, it is important and the demand will create a delay. In the first example, the verb requested is in the Simple Past; in the second example, the verb is is in the Simple Present; and in the third example, the verb will create is in the Simple Future.

As illustrated in these examples, the use of the Simple Present Subjunctive in the subordinate clause of a formal command or request is independent of the tense of the verb in the main clause.

The Simple Present Subjunctive is more commonly used in formal English than in informal English. For instance, the sentence “He advises that you not be late,” is an example of formal English. In informal English, the same idea would probably be expressed by the sentence “He advises you not to be late,” in which the infinitive is used, rather than a clause requiring the Simple Present Subjunctive.