Motto: If music be the food of love, play on; Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, The appetite may

sicken, and so die. (Shakespeare Twelfth Night) THE SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD (a statement contrary to fact, a wish, a hypothesis, contingency = Rom. imprejurare neprevazuta, intamplare, possibility, command, request, regret etc.) The forms of the subjunctive can be: analytic and synthetic. The synthetic is homonymous with the following forms: Infinitive (AmE) Present Subjunctive / Should (BrE) Past Tense Present Subjunctive Past Perfect Past Subjunctive The analytical forms use modal verbs as auxiliaries + Present / Perfect Infinitive SYNTHETIC SUBJUNCTIVE Distribution of the Synthetic Subjunctive Its distribution in main clauses is very limited: a) Optative sentences (expressing a wish or an option): God bless you! / The Lord have mercy on us! / Heaven forbid! / Plague take him! / The devil take him! / God damn you! / Be that as it may! (Fie ce-o fi!) / Woe be to you! (= Amar de tine!) / Confound you! (imprecations) Analytic subjunctive: May he return soon! / May he be happy! b) Wishes: Were he only here! (inversion) / Had I wings! / Might I see him just once more! / Could he only be here to help you! / Could I have understood him better! / Oh! That it should come to that! (Cum de s-a ajuns la una ca asta!) / Oh! To be in Paris now that the spring is there! c) Imperative sentences that have the subject in any person: Everybody stand up, please! / Somebody go and fetch me a piece of chalk! / You play on my side! / Let him say that once again and Ill teach him! / Lets open the window! If clauses Conjunctions: if, only if, unless, what if, provided that, on condition that, suppose, supposing that e.g. What if he came tomorrow! The subjunctive in if clauses: a) Will / Would = volition: Come if you will! / If he would lend me his car I could drive him to the airport! b) Should = probability: If he should come, everybody would be relaxed. / Should he be here, everybody would be happy. / Had he been here, everybody would have been happy. / Concessive clauses Conjunctions: even if, even though e.g. Even if we werent going to go swimming, wed still better take a towel. Unreal comparative clauses Conjunctions: as if, as though e.g. You walk as if you were sleepy. / The cottage looks as if it had been renovated. (it probably has) / You look as if you had seen a ghost. (the action in the clause has happened earlier than the action of the mail clause) Verbal phrases - would rather / sooner: e.g. Id rather you left before the guests arrive. They will be here soon. / Id rather they had left earlier. They wouldnt have missed their flight; (but when the subject of this construction is also the subject of the following verb): Id rather have fish for lunch. / Id rather have told him before. He wouldnt have been angry with me. - had better: e.g. Wed better cut down on fats. = We should cut down on fats. / It would have been better if you hadnt behaved impolitely.

Wish

Note that the word that can be omitted from a sentence which uses the word wish in the main clause! Its high time! / Its time! / Its about time! = all allow a for...to construction or subjunctive Its time you started to learn harder! / Its time for you to start learning harder! ANALYTIC SUBJUNCTIVE It is allowed by: - verbs of permission and command: ask, command, give orders, allow. e.g. John ordered that she should leave at once. verbs of communication: tell, claim, advise, suggest, demonstrate, explain. may acquire exercitive potential. e.g. John explained that he was tired. / John explained that Mary should go. / John informed Mary that he had gone to see Peter. / John informed Mary that she should have gone to see Peter. / I insist that he went there. / I insist that he should go there. The Subjunctive is used to express the fact that a proposition is contrary to our expectation : think, understand, doubt, wonder. e.g. I dont believe that Mary should come to see us this evening. / I doubt that he should come. / I dont see that he should come. (Nu vd de ce ar trebui s vin.) Emotive Subjunctive is used with: factive emotive verbs and non-factive emotive verbs. A predicate is factive if its complement clause is taken to be true (a fact). e.g. Its odd that he is mad. / Its not odd that he is mad. / I realize that he is mad. / I believe that he is mad. a) Non-factive emotive verbs or adjectives : intend, prefer, inconceivable, unbelievable, anxious, eager, good, bad, vital. e.g. Its unthinkable that he should have done it. / It was impossible that she should love him. / It is wrong that she should have married the old man. / It was good that he went there. / It is good that he should do it. -

b) Factive emotives verbs and adjectives: crazy, odd, surprising, annoying, alarm, surprise, bother, worry, regret, deplore, resent. e.g. I regret that he should leave. / It is odd that you should say so. c) Adverbial clauses - concessive with may. - of purpose (unreal construction) with can and will. e.g. Tie the dog so that he wont escape. / I went there so that I could / would find a better seat. - with lest, for fear. e.g. She hurried home for fear she should be caught in the rain. Exercise 1: Add on these common phrases to each of the sentences (formulaic subjunctives): come what may, suffice it to say, be that as may, God (Heaven) forbid, so be it, far be it from me, God save the Queen / God save the King 1. If, .. , you were to die, who would run the business? 2. I dont want to explain. Aunt Sarah is going to stay after all. 3. If you really want to drop out of college, 4. .., I am determined to finish decorating my room this weekend. 5. . to tell you what to do, but youd be mad to marry him. 6. .. (or ., depending on the gender of the ruling monarch) was a patriotic song first publicly performed in London in 1745 after the king, George II defeated the Jacobite claimant to the throne. 7. This medicine tastes horrible! ., it will cure your cough. Exercise 2: Decide whether the following sentences refer to 'present' or 'past'. 1 I wish I had a better watch! 2 If only I knew the answer to the problem! 3 It's high time / about time he learnt more manners! 4 1 wish you hadn't done that! 5 If only you had phoned me yesterday! Exercise 3: Fill in the blanks with the Subjunctive of the verbs shown in brackets. 1. He suggested that I _________ ready by eight o'clock. (to be) 2. We request that she _________ the window. (to open) 3. They demanded that he _________ the room. (to leave) 4. I will ask that she _____________ me. (to accompany) 5. They recommended that he _________ to Bermuda. (to fly) 6. The request that we ______ ready to leave at six is a nuisance. (to be) 7. The recommendation that she ______ a holiday was carried out. (to take) 8. It is necessary that you _________ able to come with us. (to be) 9. They asked that we _________ standing. (to remain) 10. The requirement that he _________ work will be hard to meet. (to find) 11. It is important that he _________ everything he can. (to learn) 12. The demand that she __________ the report has been carried out. (to complete) Note: As illustrated in these examples, the use of the Present Subjunctive in the subordinate clause of a formal command or request is independent of the tense of the verb in the main clause. Exercise 4:

Write a wish for each of the following sentences: 1. You want to go on holiday this summer, but you havent got any leave left. .. 2. Monica realized that she left her lecture notes at home. . 3. Tim didnt have enough time to go to the bank during his lunch hour. .. 4. It was unusually cold, so we couldnt go to the beach. 5. You didnt put the ice cream in the fridge and now its spoilt. 6. You didnt do mathematics in high-school and now you regret it. .. 7. It didnt occur to you to take wet weather gear on your walking tour in Scotland and now youre drenched. . 8. Your best friend wont lend you her white silk dress because last time you spilt coffee on it. 9. Theresas dog keeps the neighbours awake because it barks all night. 10. You have lost your reference from one of your previous jobs and now you need it for an interview. . 11. You and your next door neighbour had an argument and now he wont speak to you. Exercise 5: Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using the word given. Do not change the word given:

Exercise 6: Choose the correct item:

Exercise 7: Choose the correct item: