SUBJUNCTIVE

Subjunctive

Subjunctive is rather insignificant in modern English. Most likely you might come across this form in American English, and most probably in formal texts.

Form

In most cases, subjunctive and indicative forms of a verb are the same. So often you would not notice whether a verb is used in subjunctive or indicative mood. The only indicator for subjunctive is that no ‘s’ is added in 3rd person singular and that the verb ‘be’ remains ‘be’ for all forms in present tense and becomes ‘were’ for all forms in past tense.
Use

Subjunctive is used in some fixed phrases (formulaic subjunctive).

•     God save the Queen!
•     Long live the King!
•     Thy will be done.
•     Be that as it may.

Certain verbs (e.g. demand, insist, recommend, suggest) and adjectives (e.g. essential, important, vital) are followed by ‘that’ + subjunctive (mandative subjunctive) to indicate that something must be done (directive aspect).

    People demand that the troops be withdrawn.
    It is important that everyone register.

Sentences in subjunctive sound very formal, however, so often an auxiliary is preferred. If the directive aspect of the sentence is clear enough without an auxiliary, it is also possible to simply use the main verb in indicative mood.

    People demand that the troops are / should be withdrawn.
    It is important that everyone registers.

But: Note the difference of subjunctive and indicative in the following example.

•     She insisted that he be present. = She wanted him to be there. (directive aspect; subjunctive)
•     She insisted that he was present. = She knew that he really was there. (observation; indicative)

In the example above, you can also see that mandative subjunctive is always used in infinitive, even if we talk about a situation in the past. Note that in negative sentences, the auxiliary ‘do’ is not used for subjunctive mood.

    She insisted that he not be present.

For wishes and hopes that cannot be fulfilled (volitional subjunctive), subjunctive is used in past tense. For all verbs (except ‚be‘) past tense in subjunctive mood is the same as in indicative mood.

    I wish, I had a million dollar.

Past tense, subjunctive mood for ‘be’ is ‘were’.

    I wish, I were a millionaire.

You probably know this form from Conditional Sentences Type II.

    If I were you, …

CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

Conditional sentences are sentences expressing factual implications, or hypothetical situations and their consequences. They are so called because the validity of the main clause of the sentence is conditional on the existence of certain circumstances, which may be expressed in a dependent clause or may be understood from the context.

Conditional Sentence Type 1

→ It is possible and also very likely that the condition will be fulfilled. Form: if + Simple Present, Simple future tense

Example:

1. If I find her address, I’ll send her an invitation.

The main clause can also be at the beginning of the sentence. In this case, don't use a comma.

Example:

2. I will send her an invitation if I find her address.

Note: Main clause and / or if clause might be negative.

Example:

3. If I don’t see him this afternoon, I will phone him in the evening.

  

Use

Conditional Sentences Type I refer to the future. An action in the future will only happen if a certain condition is fulfilled by that time. We don't know for sure whether the condition actually will be fulfilled or not, but the conditions seems rather realistic – so we think it is likely to happen.

Example: 4. If I find her address, I’ll send her an invitation. 

I want to send an invitation to a friend. I just have to find her address. I am quite sure, however, that I will find it.

Example: 5. If John has the money, he will buy a Ferrari.
 I know John very well and I know that he earns a lot of money and that he loves Ferraris. So I think it is very likely that sooner or later he will have the money to buy a Ferrari.

Other examples:
6. If Dena and Susan prepare the salad, Erna will decorate the house.
7. Joko will hoover the sitting room if Ahmad and Tedi move the furniture.
8. Elly will buy the drinks if somebody helps her carry the bottles.
9. Alan will mix the drinks if Ria gives him some of her cocktail recipes.
10. If Brian looks after the barbecue, Sandra will let the guests in.

Conditional Sentence Type 2

→ It is possible but very unlikely, that the condition will be fulfilled.
Form: if + Simple Past, Past future tense

Example: 1. If I found her address, I would send her an invitation.

Form

if + Simple Past, Past future tense

Example: 2. If I found her address, I would send her an invitation.

The main clause can also be at the beginning of the sentence. In this case, don't use a comma.

Example: 3. I would send her an invitation if I found her address.

Note: Main clause and / or if clause might be negative.

Example: 4. If I had a lot of money, I wouldn’t stay here.

Were instead of Was

In IF Clauses Type II, we usually use ‚were‘ – even if the pronoun is I, he, she or it –.

Example: 5. If I were you, I would not do this.

Use

Conditional Sentences Type II refer to situations in the present. An action could happen if the present situation were different. I don't really expect the situation to change, however. I just imagine „what would happen if …“

Example: 5. If I found her address, I would send her an invitation. 

I would like to send an invitation to a friend. I have looked everywhere for her address, but I cannot find it. So now I think it is rather unlikely that I will eventually find her address.

Example: 6. If John had the money, he would buy a Ferrari. 

I know John very well and I know that he doesn't have much money, but he loves Ferraris. He would like to own a Ferrari (in his dreams). But I think it is very unlikely that he will have the money to buy one in the near future.

Other examples:

7. If I played the lottery, I would have a chance to hit the jackpot. 

8. If I hit the jackpot, I would be rich. 

9. If I were rich, my life would change completely. 

10. I would buy a lonely island, if I found a nice one.

Conditional Sentence Type 3

→ It is impossible that the condition will be fulfilled because it refers to the past.
Form: if + Past Perfect, Past future perfect tense

Example: 1. If I had found her address, I would have sent her an invitation.

 

Form

if + Past Perfect, Past future perfect tense

Example: 2. If I had found her address, I would have sent her an invitation.

The main clause can also be at the beginning of the sentence. In this case, don't use a comma.

Example: 3. I would have sent her an invitation if I had found her address.

Note: Main clause and / or if clause might be negative.

Example: 4. If I hadn’t studied, I wouldn’t have passed my exams.

Use

Conditional Sentences Type III refer to situations in the past. An action could have happened in the past if a certain condition had been fulfilled. Things were different then, however. We just imagine, what would have happened if the situation had been fulfilled.

  

Example: 5. If I had found her address, I would have sent her an invitation. 

Sometime in the past, I wanted to send an invitation to a friend. I didn't find her address, however. So in the end I didn't send her an invitation. 

Example: 6. If John had had the money, he would have bought a Ferrari. 

I knew John very well and I know that he never had much money, but he loved Ferraris. He would have loved to own a Ferrari, but he never had the money to buy one.

Other examples: 

7.  If the referee had seen the foul, he would have awarded a penalty kick to our team.

8. If the midfielders had passed the ball more exactly, our team would have had more chances to attack. 

9. If the forwards had been more clinical in front of the goal, they would have scored more goals.

10. Their motivation would have improved if they had scored a goal during the first half.

CAUSATIVE VERBS

Causative verbs

Causative structures indicate that one thing or person causes another thing or person to do something or be something.

Examples of causatives

Have ( give someone the responsibility to do something )

I had John fix the car
I had my hair cut

Make (force someone to do something)

The teacher made the students work in groups.
Our boss made us work extra hours.

Get (convince or trick someone into doing something )

He got the mechanic to repair the machine.
She got him to read more.

Let (allow someone do something)

Jane let her son go out
They let the children play in the yard.

Other causative verbs

Other causative verbs include:
allow, help, enable, keep, hold, force, require, persuade

Reported Speech

We use reported speech when we are saying what other people say, think or believe.

• He says he wants it.
• We think you are right.
• I believe he loves her.
• Yesterday you said you didn't like it but now you do!
• She told me he had asked her to marry him.
• I told you she was ill.
• We thought he was in Australia.

When we are reporting things in the present, future or present perfect we don't change the tense.

• He thinks he loves her.
• I'll tell her you are coming.
• He has said he'll do it.

When we tell people what someone has said in the past, we generally make the tense 'more in the past'.

• You look very nice. = I told him he looked very nice.
• He's working in Siberia now. = She told me he was working in Siberia now.
• Polly has bought a new car. = She said Polly had bought a new car.
• Jo can't come for the weekend. = She said Jo couldn't come for the weekend.
• Paul called and left a message. = He told me Paul had called and had left me a message.
• I'll give you a hand. = He said he would give me a hand.

However, when we are reporting something that was said in the past but is still true, it is not obligatory to make the tense 'more in the past'. The choice is up to the speaker. For example:

"The train doesn't stop here."

• He said the train doesn't stop here.
• He said the train didn't stop here.

"I like Sarah."

• She said she likes Sarah.
• She said she liked Sarah.

When we are reporting what was said, we sometimes have to change other words in the sentence.

We have to change the pronoun if we are reporting what someone else said. Compare these two sentences. In each case the person actually said "I don't want to go."

• I said I didn't want to go.
• Bill said he didn't want to go.

We have to change words referring to 'here and now' if we are reporting what was said in a different place or time.
Compare these two sentences. In each case the person actually said "I'll be there at ten tomorrow."

• (If it is later the same day) He said he would be there at ten tomorrow.
• (If it is the next day) He said he would be there at ten today.

Now compare these two sentences.

• (If we are in a different place) He said he would be there tomorrow at ten.
• (If we are in the place he is coming to) He said he would be here at ten tomorrow.

Statements

1) If the introductory sentence starts in the present (Susan says), there is no backshift of tenses in Reported speech.

Example:
Direct speech: Susan: "I work in an office."
Reported speech: Susan says (that) she works in an office.

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2) If the introductory sentence starts in the past (Susan said), there is often backshift of tenses in Reported speech. (see: Note)

Example:
Susan: "I work in an office."
Susan said (that) she worked in an office.

Backshift of tenses
from	to
Simple Present	Simple Past
Simple Past	Past Perfect
Present Perfect
Past Perfect
will	would
Progressive forms
am/are/is	was/were
was/were	had been
has been
had been

Backshift of tenses
from	to
Peter: "I work in the garden."	Peter said (that) he worked in the garden.
Peter: "I worked in the garden."	Peter said (that) he had worked in the garden.
Peter: "I have worked in the garden."
Peter: "I had worked in the garden."
Peter: "I will work in the garden."	Peter said (that) he would work in the garden.
Peter: "I can work in the garden."	Peter said (that) he could work in the garden.
Peter: "I may work in the garden."	Peter said (that) he might work in the garden.
Peter: "I would work in the garden." (could, might, should, ought to)	Peter said (that) he would work in the garden. (could, might, should, ought to)
Progressive forms
Peter: "I'm working in the garden."	Peter said (that) he was working in the garden.
Peter: "I was working in the garden."	Peter said (that) he had been working in the garden.
Peter: "I have been working in the garden."
Peter: "I had been working in the garden."

If the sentence contains an expression of time, you must change it as well.

Peter: "I worked in the garden yesterday."
Peter said that he had worked in the garden the day before.

Shifting/Conversion of expressions of time

this (evening)	that (evening)
today/this day	that day
these (days)	those (days)
now	then
(a week) ago	(a week) before
last weekend	the weekend before / the previous weekend
here	there
next (week)	the following (week)
tomorrow	the next/following day

Note:

In some cases the backshift of tenses is not necessary, e.g. when statements are still true.
John: "My brother is at Leipzig university."
John said (that) his brother was at Leipzig university. or
John said (that) his brother is at Leipzig university.
or
Mandy: "The sun rises in the East."
Mandy said (that) the sun rose in the East. or
Mandy said (that) the sun rises in the East.

Note:

The word >that< can be left out.