Welcome to our lesson on the English subjunctive mood. The subjunctive mood is a special verb form that we use to express situations that are not factual or real. Unlike the indicative mood which states facts, the subjunctive expresses wishes, hypothetical situations, suggestions, and unreal conditions.
The subjunctive mood is commonly used to express wishes and hypothetical situations. For wishes contrary to present facts, we use the past tense form, with 'were' for all persons. For wishes about the past, we use 'had' plus past participle. In hypothetical conditions, 'if' clauses use past tense for present situations and past perfect for past situations.
The subjunctive mood is also used after verbs expressing demands, suggestions, and commands. These include verbs like suggest, recommend, demand, insist, order, advise, and propose. In these cases, we use the base form of the verb, without any changes for person or number. The word 'should' may be implied but is often omitted in American English.
The subjunctive mood also appears in several fixed expressions and special cases. With 'as if' and 'as though', we use the subjunctive to show something is contrary to reality. 'Lest' and 'for fear that' introduce clauses expressing what we want to avoid. There are also traditional fixed expressions like 'God save the Queen' that preserve the subjunctive form.
To summarize what we have learned about the English subjunctive mood: It is a special verb form used to express non-factual situations, wishes, and hypothetical conditions. We use past tense forms for present contrary-to-fact situations, and base verb forms after verbs of demand and suggestion. The subjunctive remains important in formal writing and helps us clearly distinguish between real and imaginary situations.