The Subjunctive in Spoken English | English Grammar Lesson | C1-Advanced

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Hello and welcome, everyone to this lesson, this  presentation, which is about the Subjunctive. Let  

me share my screen and get started. So, the  Subjunctive. A very common question I get is:  

Do we use the Subjunctive in spoken English? Well,  first of all, there are two types of Subjunctive:  

Present Subjunctive and Past Subjunctive . When  it comes to Present Subjunctive, we very rarely  

use it in spoken English, especially in British  English. When it comes to the Past Subjunctive,  

we do use it but only in a few cases. So, before  we look at the different cases where we do use  

it or don't use it, let's have a brief look at how  we formulate the Subjunctive, the formulation. Now  

the Subjunctive is a form; it's not a tense. and  it is used after certain verbs and expressions,  

and that's why it's called the Subjunctive  Mood. Now, I'm not going to use the word  

'mood' throughout this presentation. We'll  just call it 'the Subjunctive'. Formulation  

is actually very easy for both types: The Present  Subjunctive has the same form as the base verb,  

which is the 'infinitive without to': do, and  the Past Subjunctive has the same form as the  

Past Simple, so: did. There's a little note here,  important note, that, as you know, the verb 'be'  

has two Past Simple forms: 'was' for I, he, she,  and it, and 'were' for you, we, and they. But,  

the Past Subjunctive has only one form, and that  is 'were'. So, that's about the formulation. Now,  

let's have a look at the expressions that require  the Present Subjunctive. There are two categories:  

The first one is 'expressions of importance',  for example saying: It is important, essential,  

vital, crucial, necessary, or of vital importance.  When you start your sentence with expressions like  

this, we need to use the Present Subjunctive form,  and the situation that we are describing can be in  

the present or in the past. That's why it's  not a tense; it's a form. And in either case,  

we must use the Present Subjunctive. So for  example: It is or it was essential that the  

president be transparent, not 'is'. Right? So,  after the expression of importance 'essential':  

be: the Present Subjunctive. That's the first  category. And, the second is after certain verbs  

we must also use the Present Subjunctive, and the  most common and important verbs to remember are:  

suggest, recommend, propose, insist, demand, ask,  command, and order. For example: The opposition  

leader demands or demanded - remember present  or past makes no difference - The opposition  

leader demands or demanded that she clarify  her position. 'clarify' is the base verb here,  

not the Present Simple form. Right now, as you can  see, these are very formal sentences and therefore  

only appropriate in formal situations. So, do we  use the Present Subjunctive in informal English?  

Well, in British English, not really. In American  English, you may occasionally hear the Present  

subjunctive in an informal conversation, but even  there, it's very rare. So, how do we avoid it in  

conversation? There are three ways to avoid this  structure. With the expressions of importance,  

our first category, we use a different  structure which is 'for someone to do',  

so using the infinitive. So, instead of saying  something like: It is important that she be honest  

with you, which sounds very formal and a bit  strange, we would say: It is important for her  

to be honest with you. We're using 'for someone  to do something'. That's with the expressions of  

importance. Now with the verbs that we saw, the  second category, we use the word, the modal verb,  

'should'. So, instead of saying: I hope you  insisted that she be honest with you, we say:  

I hope you insisted that she should be honest  with you. And that sounds a lot more natural,  

and we can also drop 'that' because it's informal:  I hope you insisted she should be honest with  

you. And your third option to avoid the Present  Subjunctive is just to completely ignore that the  

form even exists and use Present or Past simple  tenses. Of course, this would be grammatically  

wrong but it is acceptable in spoken English.  So, instead of the correct sentence 'It is vital  

that she be honest with you.', we just say: It's  vital she's honest with you. Or with the past:  

I insisted, or 'I hope you insisted that she  be honest with you.' 'I hope you insisted she  

was honest with you.' So, grammatically wrong  - remember that - but in spoken English it has  

become an acceptable mistake. So that's about ...  Now, I have a little note here: If the verb is  

negative, if the Subjunctive verb is negative,  the Present Subjunctive form sounds strange,  

so it's even avoided in formal English, usually in  two ways: either by adding 'should' to avoid the  

Subjunctive or by changing the verb to a positive  verb. For example, looking at the sentence 'It is  

or was crucial that the president not withhold  any information.' So here, the verb is negative:  

not withhold, it sounds very awkward actually.  We usually change with 'should', so for example:  

It is or was crucial that the President  should not withhold any information. Or,  

we find an alternative, a positive verb that makes  sense here, for example: It is or was crucial that  

the President share all available information.  So, that's all about the Present Subjunctive.  

Let's look at the Past Subjunctive. What are the  Expressions that require the Past Subjunctive.  

There are five common ones that I have listed for  you here: It is time..., I would rather..., He  

looks, behaves or sounds as if or as though..., I  wish..., and if only... For example, we would say:  

It is time he started - Past Subjunctive - It is  time he started saving up for a car. Or: If only  

I were 10 years younger. Notice that although the  form looks like the Past Simple, this is not the  

Past Simple tense. It is the Past Subjunctive  for a present situation. A little confusing,  

but that's how it is. Okay. Also, we use the Past  Subjunctive in the 'if' clause of Conditional 2  

sentences, as you very well know. For example:  If he started saving up today, excuse me, he  

would be able to buy a car next year. Or: I would  apply for this job if I were 10 years younger. So,  

can we avoid the Past Subjunctive in informal  spoken English? Not always. With some Expressions,  

it is possible; with others, it isn't. So, from  the list that I shared with you, the first two  

expressions, for those we can find an alternative.  So, for the expression 'It is time he started  

saving up for a car.', we can use the 'for someone  to do something' structure. So, we can also say,  

and it's more natural: It is time for him to start  saving up for a car. Also, with 'I would rather  

you did not do something.' in this case 'I would  rather you did not call me by that name.', we can  

use the verb 'prefer' because with 'prefer',  we can use the infinitive: I would prefer you  

not to call me by that name. So, these two have  alternatives. The others don't. So, let's have a  

look at what the others were. The first one was:  He looks, behaves, or sounds as if or as though...  

Now, when we use the Past Subjunctive after these  expressions, we have an unreal situation. So if  

we say: He behaves as if he owned this place, we  know he doesn't. It's hypothetical, it's unreal,  

and we are a little annoyed at his behaviour:  He behaves as if he owned this place. If we use  

the normal tense, the Present Simple tense, then  we have a probable situation. We have changed the  

context here. If I say: He behaves as though  he owns this place. Erm, maybe he does. So,  

it's completely now different. Therefore, if  your idea is the first one, the unreal situation,  

hypothetical, you're a little annoyed, you must  use the Past Subjunctive. So, that's that one.  

And then the other three situations: two  expressions and one structure, with 'I wish',  

'if only' and the Second Conditional, you have no  alternative; you must use the Past Subjunctive.  

So, it's: I wish I were 10 years younger. If only  she knew how to sing. If he had a choice, he would  

live elsewhere. Now again a little note here that  some native speakers may use 'was' with I, he,  

she, and it instead of 'were', but good native  speakers generally use 'were', so I'd recommend  

you stick to 'were' for all pronouns. So, you  might hear 'If only I was 10 years younger',  

but don't use that. Say: If only I were 10 years  young. One final note, and that is: If the action  

following 'I wish' and 'if only' - those two  phrases: 'I wish' and 'if only' - took place  

in the past, and you want to express your regret,  you must use the Past Perfect tense, so you would  

say something like: I wish I had started saving  up last year, or If only I had started saving up  

last year. So, just to sum up and answer the  question again: Do we use the subjunctive in  

spoken English? So, we have two cases: Present  Subjunctive: not really. You can always avoid it  

when you speak; however, it is important that  you're aware of this structure so that you're  

not confused when you occasionally see or hear it  in formal situations. With the past subjunctive,  

excuse me, it's different. There are situations  where you cannot avoid it, you must use it,  

and we looked at four important cases, that  was: after the expressions 'as if / as though',  

'I wish', 'if only', and in the 'if' clause of  Conditional 2 sentences. What is important here  

is to remember that this is the Past Subjunctive  form, mood; it is not the Past Simple tense. It  

doesn't have anything to do with the past. It's  usually a present or future situation - so that  

you don't get confused. Right that's the end  of the presentation. I hope it has helped  

you to review the Subjunctive Mood in English  and also become aware of when you can use it,  

when you must use it, and when you can avoid  it. I hope you've enjoyed this lesson. For  

more on this topic, click here. Remember to  also check out my complete online course,  

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