- •The oblique moods
- •Subjunctive I
- •Subjunctive II
- •The use of subjunctive II
- •Object clauses
- •Attributive clauses after the phrase "It's (high) time..."
- •Predicative Clauses
- •Adverbial Clauses of Comparison
- •Adverbial Clauses of Concession
- •The conditional mood Subjunctive II in Adverbial Clauses of Condition
- •Four Types of Conditional Sentences in English
- •The suppositional mood
- •1. Independent Use
- •2. Dependent Use
- •2.1. Parallel Use of the Suppositional Mood and Subjunctive I
- •2.2. Both tenses of the Suppositional Mood are used in the following patterns:
The oblique moods
There are four mood forms called "subjunctive" or "oblique" which represent the action as unreal:
Subjunctive I |
I (he, she, it, we, you, they) |
be, do |
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Subjunctive II |
Present |
I (he, she, it, we, you, they) |
were, did |
Past |
had been, had done |
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The Conditional Mood |
Present |
I (he, she, it, we, you, they) |
would (should) do |
Past |
would (should) have done |
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The Suppositional Mood |
Present |
I (he, she, it, we, you, they) |
should do |
Past |
should have done |
Subjunctive I
Subjunctive I represents the action as problematic, but not contradicting reality. It's used to express suggestion, necessity, advice, supposition, etc.
Subjunctive I is seldom used in modern English. It is mostly used in the language of official documents and high prose and the American variant of English. It is used in different types of clauses: subject clauses, object clauses, adverbial clauses etc.
Ex. It's necessary that you help them. (subject clause).
He suggested that we take part in it. (suggestion - object clause)
He was afraid lest they be late. (fear, worry - object clause)
lest - как бы не
Put down my address lest you forget it. (warning - adverbial clause of purpose) lest - чтобы не
Success attend you! (wish - simple sentence)
Damn it! (curse - simple sentence)
Subjunctive II
In Russian when we want to show that the action is not real we use the Subjunctive mood (the past form of the verb plus the particle "бы" - сказал бы, пошел бы, ответил бы).
In English this mood is rendered by the form of Subjunctive II, which is also the past form of any verb.
Ex. Oh, if only it were summer! I wish we had more time. It's time we knew everything.
Subjunctive II represents the action as unreal, as contrary to reality. Morphologically it has two forms: "non-perfect" (Subjunctive II present) and "perfect" (Subjunctive II past).
Subjunctive II present Subjunctive II past
(non-perfect) (perfect)
I did I had done
He were He had been
We went We had gone
You had You had had
The non-perfect form of Subjunctive II is used to express actions simultaneous with the present (or past) moment of the predicate or referred to the future.
Ex. I wish you were all here. (Как бы хотелось, чтобы вы все были здесь.)
He behaved as if he were a child. (Он вел себя как ребенок.)
She wished she could stay there forever. (Ей хотелось бы остаться там навсегда.)
The perfect form of Subjunctive II is used to express priority of actions which were not fulfilled and are only to be regretted.