What is Subjunctive Mood in English Grammar? (With Examples & Exercises)

Subjunctive Mood describes desires, dreams, wishes or hypothetical situations of a person. These scenarios may not always be true and can be imaginative. So, situations like these appearing in sentences are known as subjunctive mood. Here are some cases where we use Subjunctive Mood in a sentence:

1. When you describe something that you wish or hope to happen or to talk about situations that are contrary to reality, imaginary or desired are hypothetical situations.
2. When verbs like recommend, suggest, insist, demand, request, ask, require, propose, advise, or order are followed by a that-clause are suggetion based.
3. While expressing necessity or importance
4. In some common expressions and formal phrases, subjunctive mood is used always.

1. Present Subjunctive Mood is used where there are suggestions, demands, wishes or hypothetical situations happening currently in the present or are yet to happen.
2. Past Subjunctive Mood also expresses hypothetical situations contrasting with present subjunctive mood where there are unreal situations happened in the past.

• Let's manifest that this misery end right now. (Present)
• If he would have been the president, nothing would have changed. (Past)

I hope now you understand where to use Subjunctive Mood; let us learn how you can use them in a sentence for better clarity. Check the Subjunctive mood rules below:

If you want to talk about something that is not real or is just a wish then you should use “were” instead of “was,”. You can use it irrespective of who you’re talking about. For example  instead of “If I was rich.” you can say “If I were rich”.

Let me show you another example,see this sentence

• "I wish I were taller" - Correct
• "I wish I was taller" - Incorrect
• "If she were here she would help us" Here in this sentence she is actually not there.
• I wish it were possible to travel through time.

When you use verbs like recommend, suggest, insist, demand, request, ask, require, propose, advise, or order which are then followed by a 'that' clause then the verb inside the clause takes the base form. It must be noted that in these cases, even in the third person singular (he/she/it), the verb does NOT take ‘s’ or change forms. For example:

• They suggested that she study harder.
• The manager said that she be on time. (We don’t say “is” or “was.” We use “be” in this type of sentence.)
• Now look at these phrases - It is important, It is necessary, and It is essential.

You will use them when we talk about something that must be done.

After these phrases, the verb that comes after “that” stays in its simple form. This means we don’t add “s,” “ed,” or “ing.”

Example 1:
It is important that he submit his homework by tomorrow.

Example 2:
It is necessary that they finish the report by Friday.
(“Finish” stays the same for “they.”)

Example 3:
It is essential that every student bring their ID card to the exam.
(We don’t say “brings.”)

Example 4:
It’s crucial that he be at the meeting.
(We say “be,” not “is” or “was.”)

Tip:

When you use “It is important / necessary / essential,” always keep the next verb in its simple form — no changes! In unreal or hypothetical conditional statements, the past perfect ("had + past participle") is used for past unreal situations, while "were" is used for present unreal situations for all subjects in the “if-clause”. For example:

• If I were you I would take the job. This is an Hypothetical condition here I'm not actually "you"
• If he had studied he would have passed the exam. This is again an unreal condition which happened in the past here he didn’t study, so he failed.
• If she were more confident she would perform better on stage. (She isn’t confident, so this is hypothetical.)

Check out the Subjunctive mood examples below for a better understanding.

1. I suggest you be quiet. (suggestion)
2. If were a boy. (wish)
3. The coach recommended that he stop playing soccer. (command) 
4. I wish I was sixteen again. (wish)
5. If she was accepted, she would choose a major in chemistry. (desire/intention)
6. I wish I was more confident. (wish)
7. I suggest you be on time. (command)
8. If I were you, I would apologize. (suggestion)
9. I wish I had known about the deadline earlier.
10. Suppose she had taken the flight, she would have arrived on time