THE SUBJUNCTIVE MOODS
( LECTURE)
(By Dr. HEMCHE Hidaya Amina and Dr. HAKEM Hadia)
1. Present Subjunctives
The present subjunctive is used in formal situations. It has exactly the same form as the bare infinitive, i.e., it has exactly the same form of the present simple tense but the ‘s’ is not added with the third person singular. Note that the subjunctive of to be is be.
· Long live the queen!
The present subjunctive is used to express a wish or hope in certain exclamations often with supernatural powers.
· God bless you. ~ God forgive you. ~ Heaven be praised. ~ Curse this fog. ~ So be it. ~ Suffice it to say... ~ Heaven forbid! ~ Be that as it may ...
2. Past Subjunctives
Past subjunctives are in fact unreal past tenses (subjunctives), they have the form of the past but they don’t express the past tense.
Unreal past tenses can be used after wish and if only for example, in this case the form of the verb is past but in fact it does not express the past. As for to be, were is the correct use, in formal English, with I /she/he but was is often used in conversation (oral mode).
2.1. Subjunctive after wish and if only
1. Wish can be used with a past tense to express regret about a present situation.
· I wish I had more information to give you. ( I regret the fact that I don’t have more information)
· I wish you could drive me home. ( I regret the fact that you can’t drive me home)
2. Wish can be used in the past without changing the subjunctive.
· He wished he had more information to give you.
3. Wish can be used with a past perfect tense to express regret about a past situation.
· I wish I hadn’t lost so much time. ( I regret having lost so much time)
· I wish you had showed up. ( I regret the fact that you didn’t come)
4. If only can be used with a past tense to express regret but in a more dramatic way.
· If only we found a solution to the problem.
· If only she had asked me before taking such a decision.
5. Likewise past and past perfect tenses after if express unreality or improbability.
· If I were you, I wouldn’t buy that old house. ( improbable)
· If they had known, they would have come earlier. (unreality)
2.2. Subjunctive after as if / as though
1. The past subjunctive can also be used after as if / as though to express unreality, improbability or doubt in the present.
· She behaves as if/though she were the boss. ( but she is not the boss or we don’t know whether she is the boss or not)
· He talks as if/ though he knew exactly what happened. ( but he doesn’t know what happened or we don’t know whether he knows what happened or no)
2. The verb proceeding as if / as though can be put into the past without changing the tense of the subjunctive.
· He orders / ordered me as if/though I were his employer. ( but I am not)
2.3. Subjunctive after would rather / sooner
‘Would rather/ sooner’ are used to express preference; they can be used either with a bare infinitive or with a past subjunctive.
1. Would rather / sooner are followed by the bare infinitive when the subject of would rather/sooner is the same as the following action.
· A: Would you like to leave today or tomorrow?
B: I would rather/sooner wait till tomorrow.
In this case ‘prefer’ can be used with a full infinitive. ( B: I prefer to wait till tomorrow.)
2. However, if the following action has another subject, a past subjunctive is used after would rather/sooner.
· A: Would you like him to paint the house blue?
B: I’d rather/ sooner he painted it white.
Likewise, if prefer is used, it can be followed by an object and a full infinitive (B: I prefer him to paint it white).
d. Subjunctive after it’s (high) time
It’s time can be used with a full infinitive or a past subjunctive with a little difference in meaning.
· It’s time to start revision or It’s time for us to start revision. (It states that the right time to start revision has come.)
· It’s time we started revision. (It means that we are a little late for the revision, high is added to emphasize this idea, It’s high time we started revision).
- Enseignant: hedayatamina hemche