Forming the Subjunctive Mood with Most Verbs
Most of the time, we form the subjunctive mood by using the third-person form of a verb and dropping the -s.
→ She drinks ice-cold water while she views the baboons.
→ She insisted that she drink ice-cold water while she views baboons.
This chart shows how verbs are used differently in subjunctive sentences.
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Third-Person Verb
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Non-subjunctive Use
|
Subjunctive Verb
|
Subjunctive Use
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drives
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He drives to the zoo early Saturday morning.
|
drive
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His mom suggests that he drive to the zoo early on Saturday.
|
|
walks
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She walks around the entire path until she gets to the tiger enclosure.
|
walk
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It is necessary that she walk a long way to reach the tiger enclosure.
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|
feeds
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The zookeeper feeds the animals 7.5 tons of bananas each year.
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feed
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It is important that he feed the animals every day.
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Forming the Subjunctive Mood with To-Be and To-Have Verbs
In the subjunctive form, you will use the verbs be, have, and were.
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To-Be or To-Have Verb
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Non-subjunctive Use
|
Subjunctive Verb
|
Subjunctive Use
|
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am
|
I am here today.
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be
|
She asked that I be here today.
|
|
are
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They are seated by the sea lions.
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be
|
They requested that they be seated by the sea lions.
|
|
was
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He was impressed by the stingray’s ability to smoothly glide through the water.
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were
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If I were an animal, I would be a stingray.
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|
is
|
He is bringing us lunch.
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be
|
I propose that he bring us lunch soon.
|
|
has
|
She has provided lunch by the fountain.
|
have
|
She suggests that we have lunch by the fountain.
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Tips for Using Subjunctive Mood
- Notice that in the subjunctive use, we often get hint words that tell us the subjunctive mood is ahead. These hints include:
-
-
- recommend(ed) that
- ask(ed) that
- suggest(ed) that
- “That” is a hint word for the subjunctive mood, but often you can leave “that” out of a sentence.
|
Same Meaning
|
|
With That
|
Without That
|
|
They requested that they be seated by the sea lions.
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They requested they be seated by the sea lions.
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It is essential that he bring us lunch soon.
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I propose he bring us lunch soon.
|
|
She suggests that we have lunch by the fountain.
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She suggests we have lunch by the fountain.
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- Notice that the subjunctive form of the verb stays the same whether you are speaking in present or past tense.
-
-
- Present tense: She asks that I be here today.
- Past tense: She asked that I be here today.
- Present tense: His mom suggests that he drive to the zoo early on Saturday.
- Past tense: His mom suggested that he drive to the zoo early on Saturday.
- You know that usually the correct form of “to-be” verbs depends on whether you use a singular or plural subject. It may feel unnatural to say “I were” or “she were” instead of “I was” and “she was.” However, in the subjunctive mood, “were” is always the right choice.
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To Be
|
|
Past Tense
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I was
|
you were
|
he/she was
|
it was
|
we were
|
you were
|
they were
|
|
Subjunctive Mood
|
were
|
were
|
were
|
were
|
were
|
were
|
were
|
For example:
-
-
- If it were me, I would visit the reptile house first.
-
-
- She wishes she were as tall as the giraffes!
- If you were as quick as a cheetah, where would you run?