In this lesson you’ll learn …
- all about mood
- what the subjunctive mood is
- how to form the subjunctive
- the 5 types of sentences in which you use the subjunctive
- when it’s OK to use “I were“!
The subjunctive is not a tense like the past simple or the present perfect. It’s a mood.
This is advanced English grammar. The subjunctive form is very rare in English. It’s so rare that it is only used on 5 occasions in English.
This lesson will help you understand the subjunctive mood so that you can understand some English sentence structures. You don’t need to memorize “rules” about mood. You just need to learn in which sentences to use the subjunctive.
What is mood in English?
A verb expresses an action or a state of being. A verb also has different characteristics. A verb can express time through past, present, and future tenses. A verb can express active or passive voice (whether the subject does or receives the action of the verb).
A verb can also express mood. In English grammar, mood is the way someone expresses something, with a statement or assertion, a wish, or a command. (This is different from the more common definition of mood: the way someone feels.)
Mood is expressed through:
- the indicative form (a fact or assertion or question)
- the imperative form (a command)
- the subjunctive form (a wish, a suggestion, a possibility)
The most common mood used in English is the indicative. This is the verb form you use to state a fact or ask a question. Indicative sentences are the sentences that you use most in conversation.
I went to the store.
She called me before she went to work.
I don’t know where he is.
Are you going out tonight?
The imperative mood is also common. Use the imperative mood to express a command, or something you want someone else to.
Call me!
Wash the dishes.
Don’t tell anyone.
What is the subjunctive mood?
The subjunctive mood expresses an unreal situation. It expresses a possibility, a suggestion, a wish, something imaginary, or the way that you want something to be.
The subjunctive mood is very rare in English. It’s OK if, at this point in the lesson, you still don’t understand mood. It’s not important.
What’s important is knowing when to use the subjunctive mood.
1. Use the subjunctive in a that-clause after verbs of suggestion or advice.
Her mom suggested that she get a job.
Her father demanded that she turn off the TV.
Her hairstylist recommended that she stop dying her hair.
We insist that he call us as soon as he gets home.
Verbs of advice or suggestion:
- advise
ask
demand
insist
prefer
propose
recommend
request
suggest
urge
Learn more: How to use the English verb suggest
2. Use a special subjunctive form of the verb be after if in the second conditional sentence structure.
“If I were you, I would wear something else.”
Learn more: The second conditional sentence structure
3. Use a special subjunctive form of the verb be in that-clause after the verb wish.
“I wish I were a princess.“
There are two other situations where the subjunctive is used, but these are even rarer than the examples above:
4. Use the subjunctive in a that-clause after adjectives of importance in a specific sentence structure.
“It is crucial that he call me as soon as he gets home.”
Other adjectives of importance:
- It is best (that)
It is crucial (that)
It is desirable (that)
It is essential (that)
It is imperative (that)
It is important (that)
It is recommended (that)
It is urgent (that)
It is vital (that)
It is necessary (that)
5. The subjunctive is also used in some fixed expressions.
- so be it
be that as it may
as it were
God save the Queen
Long live the King
God bless America
Heaven forbid
What is the subjunctive form?
The subjunctive form is just the base form of a verb. The base form, or the bare infinitive, is the simplest form of a verb. It’s the way that you find a verb in the dictionary. Run. Play. Walk. Do. It’s the infinitive form of a verb without to.
To form the subjunctive, do not add an -s to the verb when you use the subjects he, she, or it. The subjunctive form does not change.
Also, the same base form is used in past, present and future situations. The verb does not change in the subjunctive.
In these sentences with the verb suggest, the verb in the that-clause is in the subjunctive. Note that the verb in the that-clause stays the same even though the tense of the verb suggest is different in each sentence:
He suggests that she study hard.
He suggested that she study hard.
He is going to suggest that she study hard.
More example sentences:
I suggested that he be Harry Potter for Halloween!
I insist that she stay at my house when she visits Toronto.
The boss proposed that he take a 3-week vacation.
Negative subjunctive form
Add not before the verb to make the subjunctive negative. Don’t use do.
I suggest that she not go out tonight.
We ask that she not call after 9pm.
We insisted that he not pay for anything.
Is “I were …” correct?
The verb be has a special subjunctive form after if in the second conditional sentence and after the verb wish. These are the only times you can use “I were.”
Have you ever heard someone say “If I were you … ?” or “I wish I were …” That doesn’t sound right, does it?
Yes, “I were” is correct in some sentences. In fact, there’s only two sentences where you can use “I were.”
“If I were you …”
The second conditional is the present unreal conditional. Use this sentence structure when you want to talk about an imaginary situation. Usually this sentence looks like this:
If + simple past, would + verb
However, when you use the verb be after if, it changes to the special subjunctive form were.
If he were alive today, he’d be 100 years old.
If your mom were here, she’d tell you to eat your vegetables.
The second conditional sentence structure is also used to give advice. You imagine what you would do in the same situation as someone else. This is where you can use the pattern “If I were you, I would …” You can also use “If I were him, …“, “If I were her, …”, or “If it were me, …”
If I were you, I would look for a new job.
If I were you, I wouldn’t say anything.
If I were her, I would buy a car.
If it were me, I would pay off my debt first, then buy a house.
Now, I can almost hear your next question: “Can I use was instead of were?.” Yes. It’s not grammatically wrong to use “If she was here, …” or “If I was him, …” However, many people think that this is incorrect because it is so informal. If I were you, I would always use were!
EXCEPTION! Don’t use “If I was you … ” This is very informal and sounds uneducated, although you will sometimes hear native speakers use it.
If I was you, I would get a job instead of going to university.
Learn more: English Grammar: The second conditional sentence structure
“I wish I were …”
You can use the verb wish to express regret. Use the verb wish to express that you are sad that a situation is not different. (You are expressing an unreal, impossible, or unlikely situation.)
This meaning of wish follows this pattern:
wish + that-clause
You don’t need to always say that in this sentence.
In the that-clause, use a past tense form of the verb even if your sentence has a present or future meaning:
I wish he spoke French.
I wish she was coming with me to Paris.
I wish you hadn’t said that.
However, when you use the verb be in the that-clause, change it to were:
I wish that I were in Paris right now.
I wish (that) I were rich.
I wish you were here.
You can also use “I wish I was …” in these sentences, too, although it is less formal and some people consider it incorrect. It is better to use “I wish I were …”
(This is not a complete lesson on the verb wish. This lesson only focuses on using the subjunctive with the verb wish when talking about regret.)
Review
This is a lot of information. You may need to read this lesson again to understand the subjunctive mood. The important thing to remember is that you don’t need to memorize “rules” about mood. (Remember, most native speakers don’t know what the subjunctive mood is!) You need to learn sentences, and you need to remember that a verb does not change in the subjunctive form. (Only the verb be changes in two situations.)
Yes, it was first my time reading and trying to learn about subjunctive mood. I felt a little bit difficult in this lesson, but I will read again to get more information. Like you said, I don’t need to decorate “rules”, I just need to learn the sentences.
How enlightening! Now I think I understand how to use the subjunctive mood perfectly. To me, it’s part of the beauty of the English language.
Thank you very much, Melanie!
[Zulkifli Hashim from Malaysia]
Thank you, teacher Melanie. That lesson was so useful for me!
Hey Melanie. I’ve been reading your articles and I would like to say thank you for all these information you’ve given to us.
I would like you ask you something different from the topic you wrote here, it is about this:
Which of the next sentences is correct?: (Imagine someone just told you about and idea they have or something interesting they want you to know)
-Sounds good to me
-Sounds good for me
Basically, what’s the difference between using “to me” and “for me”?
Thank you, again.
Hi, Juan!
In this case you don’t need to memorize any rules about “to me” and “for me.” You can just memorize the phrase “sounds good to me!” It’s a fixed expression. It doesn’t change. There’s no situation in which you would use “for me” in this expression.
Ohh, I see. So, in which case do we use “for me”?
That’s impossible to say! There are a lot of noun, verb, and adjective collocations that include the preposition for.
There aren’t any “rules” about when to use for me. There are collocations, or words that go together in a way that sounds right or correct to native speakers and sentence structures. That’s what you want to focus on.
For example, when you use the sentence structure do something for someone, you can use for me:
“Can you do something for me?”
Hi Melanie, thanks a lot for your blog!
1- What happens if I want to say “I would suggest”? Are the following sentences correct?
– I would suggest going to Paris next weekend.
– I would suggest he go to Paris next weekend.
– I would have suggested he took the other way.
2- If I understood well, there is no way at all to say “I suggest him to do that”, “I would suggest her to get a new dress”, etc…right?
3- A British friend told me that for her, it was correct to say “it is important that he doesn’t take the wrong train” (for her it was not correct to say “it is important he don’t take the wrong train). Does it mean that it is commonly used, even if it is not grammatically correct?
THANKS A LOT!!!
Juliette
Hi, Juliette! These are fantastic questions!
1. “I would suggest …”
Your sentences are all correct. Adding would before suggest softens your advice or suggestion, and makes it more polite.
“I would have suggested” has a different meaning, however. This is actually an example of a perfect modal.
Would have + past participle has a separate meaning from “would suggest.” Would have + past participle talks about a past condition or a past situation that didn’t happen. You wish that the past were different.
It’s used in the third conditional sentence structure, although it can be used as a complete sentence without the if-clause:
“If he had asked me, I would have suggested …”
2. Yes, you are correct! Those are not grammatically correct sentences.
Did you get a chance to read my longer lesson on suggest?
https://www.englishteachermelanie.com/how-to-use-the-english-verb-suggest/
3. “It is important that he not take the wrong train.”
Remember that you need to use not to make the subjunctive negative, not
don’tordoesn’t. (See above in the section “What is the subjunctive form?”)If the two options you presented to your British friend were “… he don’t take the wrong train” vs. “… he doesn’t take the wrong train,” I can see why she said that “he doesn’t” was correct. However, I don’t think it is common to use “… he doesn’t take the wrong train.” I can only talk about Canadian & American English, however, and for me ” … he not take the wrong train” sounds more common.
:)
Hi Melanie…it’s me again…subjunctive mood is really haunting me this afternoon!!!
I’ve found the following sentence:
I think it necessary for the government to find a solution.
1- Is this sentence correct?
2- According to you, would the following sentence be the right translation in french?
=> Je pense qu’il est nécessaire pour le gouvernement de trouver une solution.
3- Finally, if what I want to say is “Je pense qu’il est nécessaire que le gouvernement trouve une solution”, would it be correct to say “I think that it is necessary the government found a solution”?
Thanks a lot…I’ve taken advantage of the fact you told in your biography you’re a french learner!!!
Juliette
“I think it necessary for the government to find a solution.”
Yes, this is correct.
According to the book Practical English Usage by Michael Swan, the word “it” in the sentence is called a preparatory object. Here’s what the book says:
This happens when the object of a verb is an infinitive expression or a clause, and when this has an adjective or noun complement. (section 447.1)
subject + verb + it + complement + infinitive/clause
(I had to read that a couple times to understand it!)
This is a common but advanced use of it in English:
I find it difficult to understand advanced English grammar.
She made it clear that she wasn’t interested in him.
2. “Je pense qu’il est nécessaire pour le gouvernement de trouver une solution.”
“I think (that) it’s necessary for the government to find a solution.”
When I was studying French in school, I learned that “Je pense que” means “I think that.” I don’t think that French has a preparatory object, but I have forgotten a lot of French grammar!
3. “Je pense qu’il est nécessaire que le gouvernement trouve une solution”
“I think (that) it’s necessary (that) the government find a solution.”
That is optional in both places in the sentence.
There are two patterns that you can use with necessary:
It is necessary for someone to do something
It is necessary that …
I have had necessary to the list above of adjective of importance, because the subjunctive must be used in the that-clause.
:)
Thanks for your answers Melanie! I think that I need to reread it…sleep on it, and read again tomorrow! It is not easy!!! Thanks again!
I have read about the subjunctive mood before ; but I wanted to teach it .It is not sufficiently covered in the references I have consulted .
Your lesson is clear , and comprehensive.
Thank you.