The Conditional Mood

The Common Aspect

The Present Conditional	The Past Conditional
I should / would speak He would speak We should / would speak You would speak They would speak	I should / would have spoken He would have spoken We should / would have spoken You would have spoken They would have spoken

The Continuous Aspect

The Present Conditional	The Past Conditional
I should / would be speaking He would be speaking We should / would be speaking You would be speaking They would be speaking	I should / would have been speaking He would have been speaking We should / would have been speaking You would have been speaking They would have been speaking

The Subjunctive II

The Subjunctive II has two tense forms: present and past. The Present Subjunctive II coincides in form with the Past Indefinite Tense of the indicative Mood. The only exception is the verb tobe, the Present Subjunctive of which has the form were both in the plural and in the singular.

Ex. I (he, she, it, we, you, they) were. (Was is not possible).

As though the Present Subjunctive II coincides in its form with Past Indefinite of the Indicative Mood but it differs in its purpose and meaning.

The Past Indefinite Tense is used to express a real action which took place in the past.

Ex. They were in London last year. (Past Indefinite)

The Present Subjunctive II represents an action which refers to the present or to the future and is contrary to reality.

Ex. If they were here now, they would give us a call. (The Present Subjunctive II).

The Continuous Aspect of the Subjunctive II is used when it is necessary to emphasize an action in its progress.

Ex. I would be very glad if I were speaking with her now. (The desired action in its progress is emphasized).

The Past Subjunctive II coincides in form with the Past Perfect Tense of the indicative Mood but it differs in its purpose and meaning. The Past Perfect Tense is used to express an action which took place before another past action or before a definite moment in the past indicated by such expressions as by five o’clock, by that time, etc.

Ex. He had come home by five o’clock. (The Past Perfect Tense).

The Past Subjunctive II represents an action which refers to the past and is contrary to reality.

Ex. If he had called on me in time, we wouldn’t have been late for the beginning of the performance. (The Past Subjunctive II).

The Subjunctive II

The Common Aspect

The Present Subjunctive II	The Past Subjunctive II
I spoke he spoke we spoke you spoke they spoke	I had spoken he had spoken we had spoken you had spoken they had spoken

The Continuous Aspect

The Present Subjunctive II	The Past Subjunctive II
I were speaking he were speaking we were speaking you were speaking they were speaking	I had been speaking he had been speaking we had been speaking you had been speaking they had been speaking