You may have never thought about it that way, but languages, like human beings, have ‘moods’. These are simply different ‘modalities’ (or ways) in which we talk about things. Most languages have at least three: we use the ‘indicative mood’ to make statements and describe facts; we turn to the ‘imperative mood’ to give orders; finally, if we want to express a hypothesis, a strong wish, or a request, we can use the ‘subjunctive mood’. In English, it’s easy to see the distinction between the indicative and the imperative, because these correspond to different forms of the verb. For example:
‘You are on time’ (statement: indicative mood).
‘Be on time!’ (order: imperative mood).
But things tend to get a little bit trickier, and lines a little bit blurred, when it comes to the subjunctive mood. Two possible instances of the English subjunctive are:
‘If he were on time’ (hypothesis).
‘I suggest that he be on time’ (strong wish).
It is, however, very common for these forms to be replaced by an indicative - ‘If he was on time’ or ‘I suggest that he is on time’ – without significantly changing the meaning of the sentence. The lack of a clear distinction has led many to declare the English subjunctive ‘dead’, or to simply look at it as an old form, with little or no relevance for the present day. That was indeed my experience growing up and going to school in Italy. While the Italian subjunctive – the so called congiuntivo – was presented as an almost indispensable part of the language, when it came to English, it was hardly ever mentioned. I remember at some point in high school a brief explanation about hypotheses such as ‘If he were’, but that was the end of it, and it was enough for me to declare the case closed. The English subjunctive did not keep me up at night.
However, one day, about six years ago, while I was watching one of my favourite TV shows, i.e. ‘How I met your mother’, I heard something that didn’t convince me at first. The main character, Ted, was reading out an official document and, although I don’t remember the exact words, he said something like: ‘The judge has ruled that she be reinstated into her previous position’. That was the beginning of it all. Several google searches and a few years later, I’m now in the UK, doing a PhD on…the subjunctive mood. I wish I could still say that it doesn’t keep me up at night. In other words: I wish that were true (another subjunctive here for you).
As I began to read more and more on this topic, the overall picture was quite complex: there were, as I mentioned, scholars who said that the subjunctive was dead, others who talked about a comeback, as well as several different positions in between. Therefore, at the start of my PhD, my first and main research question soon became: what is that all about? And what should we know about it? Here’s what I learnt, summarised in four key takeaways.
The history of the English subjunctive
In Old English, the subjunctive mood was used much more frequently, similarly to modern languages like Italian, Spanish or German. In addition to hypotheses, wishes and desires, it was also used to convey uncertainty and doubt, or to report what somebody else had said (‘reported speech’). However, the subjunctive started to disappear during the Middle English period (between 1066 and 1476), until a ‘revival’ occurred in the United States at the beginning of the 20th century. To this day, subjunctive forms are more frequent in American English than other varieties. A likely explanation, even though it’s still a matter of debate, is ‘language contact’: when European immigrants such as Italians and Germans, whose native languages had the subjunctive, arrived in the US between the 19th and 20th century, they might have had a tendency to use the subjunctive in English as well, which eventually led to a more widespread use across the nation.
Subtypes
In present-day English, there are three main types of subjunctive.
The first one is used in hypotheses and is only recognisable if you’re using the verb ‘be’ in the first or third-person singular: ‘If I/he/she/it were’ (instead of was).
Examples:
If I were rich I would pay for your plane ticket but I honestly have like $300 right now.
If I were rich, I wouldn't travel around the world.
Also take a look at this other post if you want to learn more.
The second type is the one occurring after verbs such as ‘suggest’, ‘insist’, ‘demand’, ‘request’, etc., which all have in common the idea of something mandatory that needs to happen. For this reason, some authors call it the ‘mandative subjunctive’. It usually looks like an imperative, as in this example with the plain form ‘be’:
‘They suggested that I/you/he/she/it/we/they be careful’
In this case, it is easy to recognise it because, normally, the form of the verb would change according to person and number (as in: ‘I am’, ‘you are’, or ‘she was’, ‘we were’, etc.). However, for all other verbs, the mandative subjunctive form is only different in the third-person singular, which doesn’t have the typical ‘-s’ ending. Compare the following sentences:
‘I believe that he speaks carefully’ (indicative mood).
‘I insist that he speak carefully’ (subjunctive mood).
Finally, another subjunctive type is found in set expressions such as ‘God save the Queen’, ‘Heaven forbid’ or ‘Suffice it to say’, which derive from Old and Middle English.
Not a grammatical requirement
Using the subjunctive mood in English is not mandatory, not even the ‘mandative’ type, funnily enough. We can all breathe a huge sigh of relief! Unlike other languages, where the subjunctive is more or less expected and, therefore, encouraged, when you speak or write in English, nobody expects you to use these forms, unless you are in a more formal situation: for instance, writing an official document or speaking in front of a committee.
Ludwig’s wrap up
The fact that the subjunctive mood is not a requirement means that you can choose if and when to use it, and that choice empowers you to construct a certain ‘style’. Generally, the subjunctive is thought to add a touch of ‘elegance’, but my PhD research has shown me that the stylistic effects can go even deeper than that. Specifically, because the subjunctive is usually found in old religious texts or legal documents, it might evoke a sense of ‘authority’ even when used in other types of situations . For example, in a medical context, you may want to emphasise a doctor’s knowledge and expertise; when I typed the words ‘suggest that it be’ into the Ludwig search bar, one of the results that came back was:
‘Still, if in individual cases a certain food is suspected as a trigger, dermatologists suggest that it be eliminated temporarily to see if the effect is real’ (New York Times Health).
In this case, the writer is probably trying to highlight the authoritative advice of dermatologists and the subjunctive does the trick.
In conclusion, I don’t think that ‘dead’ is the best way to describe the subjunctive. Instead, it might be more helpful to look at it as a friendly ‘ancestor’ that still comes in handy in a few situations. And if you are not sure, you can always use Ludwig. That’s what I would do anyway, if I were you.
