Editor's Corner

Hello friends!

Are we still friends after the grammar lessons? I sure hope so. I still haven’t received my new mood ring yet, but I had to buy one after writing five articles about grammar moods. Today is the last one, and it is the subjunctive.

I don’t ever remember learning this in English, but they sure do cram it into your head when you take a foreign language, and for some reason between conjunctional and subjunctive, students lose a lot of sleep and a lot of hair.

As a refresher, the subjunctive expresses a wish, a doubt, a demand, or something hypothetical. From Scribbr, a website offering English lessons, proofreading, and plagiarism checks:

“There are two types of subjunctive verb forms. Verbs in the present subjunctive take the infinitive form (e.g., “to be”), while verbs in the past subjunctive are identical to their simple past forms (e.g., “ran”).

Here are some examples of the subjunctive mood from Learn Grammar because I’m tired of making things up. Note the hypothetical aspect and the verb tenses used. This tense is used for things you might wish for or wonder about, but they haven’t happened, or they might not happen. 😊

• If I were in the program, I would sing the song.
• I suggest that Lisa write the article.
• If I were in your place, I would not do it.
• I suggest that Jack come here to solve it.
• I propose that you be present at the meeting.
• If Denis were here, he could have done it.
• If today were Friday, I could have attended the program.
• I propose that Harry be asked to attend the party.
• I suggest that Hanna sing the song.
• I propose that Steve be asked to complete the project.
• If we were in New Zealand, we would meet you.
• Jeff doubts whether Alice would like it.
• I suggest that Robert attend the meeting.
• I propose that Pam be asked to prepare the cake.
• If Tom were here, he could have solved the issue.

I sincerely thank you for your patience, and I hope these articles and examples have made these terms clearer to those of you who have asked about grammatical mood.

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Technical Publications

Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com

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