How to Use The SUBJUNCTIVE in English: Everything You always Wanted to Know

Yes, we do use the subjunctive in English. The good news is that it's easy. We explain it all in this video in just 12 minutes. You'll learn which words and phrases are followed by the subjunctive and a few everyday expressions that contain it. You'll all learn how to avoid it and some common mistakes. We'll look at the present subjunctive and the past subjunctive sometimes called the 'unreal past' For more on the past subjunctive check out this video.
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[@Eloise101]

I'm a native English speaker (midwest USA), who learned English from my mother, whose native language was Lithuanian. She and my grammar school teachers spoke excellent English, so I grew up using the subjunctive correctly. When I began studying French, it was not difficult to grasp the concept, and I then became conscious of when I was and wasn't using it in English. (I hadn't really thought of the "rule" of how to use "be" in the subjunctive, although I used it correctly from hearing it used.) I've tried to teach some close friends/relatives how to use the past subjunctive "were," since so many use the indicative "was." Most people I know(should I upgrade my acquaintance list?) don't get the concept, so I've tried instead to short-cut my lesson by introducing some phrases, using "if," for example. Even then people find it difficult. In French class the teachers have typically introduced the subjunctive with such comments as, "This is difficult," and the students typically dislike learning about it (except me, of course). I still make enough mistakes in French, but at least I do understand the concept; and my study of it in French led me to better understand how it's used in English. It strikes me that your explanation is the same kind of explanation I've seen presented to help English speakers understand the subjunctive in French. I think it's probably very difficult to start from the perspective of the rules (which you've done beautifully, and how else can one do it anyway). But, if I'd not already had some background in this, I think it would have been hard to "get" it just from the rules, at least not without some concentrated study. I think this is the same reason it's harder for an adult to learn a foreign language than it is for a child; namely, our skill at imitating tends to decrease with age. Perhaps I'm in the minority, for I do love to see the mathematical precision in language when the rules are followed consistently. Regarding the distinction between formal and informal language, I remember rules from childhood about not dangling one's prepositions. I noted that you used "whom", but put the "to" at the end of one of your sentences. (The subtitles of that sentence read "who," which, of course, is how most people speak nowadays.) I, however, will take a "whom" wherever I can get it, the dangling preposition notwithstanding. All kidding aside (why do my sons think I'm not funny), thank you for the complete and fascinating presentation.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Thanks for your interesting comment. btw I would normally either put "who" and "to" at the end or sentence or "to" before whom but not mix them. I must have been having a bad day.

[@everestwitman]

Me, a native English speaker watching this whole video

[@elisabethdakak878]

Most Americans can not make the difference between an adjective and an adverb. Grammar is very important. Most teachers teach languages without teaching the Grammar. What a mistake!

[@everestwitman]

@@elisabethdakak878 I disagree with your response on two levels. Firstly, I take problem with your trying to point out Americans as stupid. I'm American. I happen to know an overwhelming number of very intelligent, educated Americans. I find this comment offensive. Also if your "statistic" about half of Americans not being able to tell the difference between an adjective an adverb is true, it's certainly true about other English-speaking countries as well, such as the UK or Canada. Secondly, you're touting prescriptivism, which I'll let you look up.

[@alexandrefeitosa100]

@@everestwitman such a elegant response. That shows americans are not stupid at all. And you both are correct. In average more English speakers care less about grammatical rules compared to other people, specialy Latin language speakers.

[@veraintuizione6497]

@@everestwitman you taken it to seriously...No offense in his comment just we are all sharing our experiences! 🙏👋

[@visible1312]

@@alexandrefeitosa100 an elegant response🤪 an with vowels

[@silviad1430]

Finally I have a good explanation of certain forms of English

[@drmichaelelinski6992]

Your video is great! I’m a French learner, and learning about the subjonctif/subjunctive in my native English really helps me to use it correctly in French , where it is a bit more common and complex. Thank you for teaching this subject so clearly. In English, I use the subjunctive /subjonctif without even realizing it. You made me aware if it now. Again, many thanks ! 🙏🇺🇸🇬🇧🇫🇷👍😉🎈I love your humor and your engaging style of teaching. I’m so glad I found your KZbin channel today. I’ll be a new regular follower, especially since this will help me with French to English and English to French translation. I’ll be recommending you to all my language nerd friends ! À la prochaine fois et merci de tout ce que tu fais. 🙏💚💙😌

[@rui2565]

This is the best explanation about subjunctive mood I've ever seen. Thanks!

[@noemialsur1460]

It's the best explanation I have ever had of the subjunctive mode, it's very important because native English speakers don't use it correctly and it's very tricky for us.

[@erichamilton3373]

It tends to be used more by Americans, who probably don't realize they're using it. The British have more problems with it and use it less.

[@megapangolin1093]

I was born and live in England am English, and I was never taught all of these good tips and guidance! Thank you !!

[@TereMelody]

Hi! You are a great teacher and a very nice person. Your sense of humour is... something! 💖

[@mariacebrecos303]

His humour is (e.g.) outstanding. Awesome. Impressive. Awe-inspiring. Epic. Groovy

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Those are kind words. I thank you for them.

[@maurocastagnera8949]

It's absolutely important that we watch all your videos! They are extremely useful!

[@MaryamHabib1991]

I have been watching videos on Utube for subjunctive mood and this is the best video on the topic Good work 👍

[@helenamcginty4920]

I am a native English speaker, I am a reader, I find writing formal English easy but had never even heard of the subjunctive until I started learning other languages. My sister who doesn't like reading and hated essay writing at school knew all about it....and grammar in general. As she said, though, I use the subjunctive all the time. It is a form I actually like.

[@elisabethdakak878]

www.englishclub.com/grammar/subjunctive.htm In Spanish and French it is easy to recognize the subjunctive mode. If you know French or Spanish, you can easily identify the subjunctive mode in English.

[@danhope77]

In the UK grammar is not taught well. I met several people with a master's in English literature who completed their course without taking a grammar exam. I used to explain grammar rules to my native English speakers colleagues when I worked in schools in London.

[@MrMartibobs]

@@danhope77 I may be wrong but I think of the subjunctive as only surviving in English in phrases (such as 'if need be' and 'If I were you') rather than as a part of the grammar. What do you think? I struggle to think of examples, though 'if there were some mythical planet' would be subjunctive, and it comes more naturally than 'if there was some mythical planet'. I have now totally destroyed my own argument. Arrggghhh!

[@danhope77]

@@MrMartibobs yes, the subjunctive is not used much. Even in French and in Italian more and more people don't use it. For me it is a beautiful verbal tense but I do agree that it is not crucial in order to make yourself understood, it's interesting and it definitely has its own flavour. In Italian it's definitely used more than in French and much more than in English especially by well spoken people.

[@MrMartibobs]

@@danhope77 Thanks for taking the trouble to reply. Lovely to get a nice, informed comment.

[@stefaniailieva3645]

My instant gratification to you for this incredibly elaborate and easily -memorising video. Best of luck from Bulgaria

[@ilFedeVR]

Thank you, what a great teacher... I 'd listen to this man the entire day

[@alicerossi_ap]

This is an amazing lesson that has cleared up many of my doubts. Thank you very much Gideon 🙏, cheers!

[@LetThemTalkTV]

That was my objective. Glad it was useful

[@safajacob5169]

@@LetThemTalkTV thank you 'that was my objective' ' this is a new sentence I learnt it now. 😊

[@ugoanselmi9145]

Thank you Gideon. So helpful for me!

[@wladmiller4977]

Thank you for the lesson! You're the best English teacher I've ever met!

[@sadanyawa1935]

Thank you, sir. Your classes have always been impressive!

[@rozaroz5259]

excellent content, as always! cheers for your dedication and skill in teaching English to us all. have a lovely Sunday, I'm saying hi from Warsaw!

[@PoojaSingh-gk7cg]

Gideon, You are one of the best teachers of the world.

[@ammivargas5810]

great channel to improve english skills! so glad i discovered it and thank you very much for share it. It’s a very interesting site, love the stories about history, people, culture, accents, etc. Regards from Chile :)

[@LetThemTalkTV]

The pleasure is mine

[@luistorres3946]

Great lesson teacher. Thanks for sharing, I appreciate. I suggest that you post another lesson. Thanks a lot.

[@monanajafipour483]

You have the best channel!! Thanks a lot for your perfect content

[@javierjesuscolquehuancasuxo]

Thank you so much for your teachings!!!!

[@johannalange802]

Great lesson. Thank you!

[@wandering7281]

I had been wondering for ages what the actual rule for this was. Thank you!

[@salehnmr4720]

Such a Great teacher... I love your lessons..

[@giovannaquilici2194]

Finally such a pretty clear video!! Thanks for the explanation, I am Italian and I couldn't make it until this lesson!! If I had seen this video before, I would have understood the subject earlier!!

[@aliciagrau6430]

Always so good and informative! Thanks Gideon.Some native speakers tried to correct me when I used “if I were you”, I learned it at language school but just as a conditional, they never explained the subjuctive or why we use “ were” and not “was” so I could not counter-argue people who tried to hiper-correct me.Now I know why, so I can explain.thanks!

[@douglasvega8738]

thank you for this video, as a speaker of english as a second language this is somehow a taboo subject in school, teachers barely talk about the subjunctive. you cleared a lot of misconceptions.

[@petrbelousov1441]

I like the channel. It brings a huge level up for my English. Bloody sophisticated. Thank you!

[@MiccaPhone]

Wonderful video! If only every video were as much fun as this one!

[@irynaryzhkova7414]

Thank you very much, it's the clearest video about subjunctive!

[@alphacentauri2134]

Crystal clear, sir!

[@sampiyonfener]

Amazing video! Glad to learn the grammar behind this use. Thanks for your precious videos.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Glad you like them!

[@dudablack2426]

Hi Gideon! Awesome lesson, a lot to take in, but it’s crystal clear! Thanks once again 😘

[@guilhermejf8642]

Great lesson! Made it really simple!

[@Roman.FighterAgainstEnthropy]

Brilliant lesson !

[@Tatishka71]

I wish I had a teacher like you when I was at school👍🏻👏🏻 I’m officially addicted to this channel !

[@emilioalvarado3487]

Excellent content, thanks for sharing this.

[@marcosg9736]

Thanks Master, you are the Best.

[@audricholid8802]

Very clearly , thank you teacher

[@jamielukins9421]

This content has got me to subscribe! I didn't know anything about the subjunctive (even though I had been using it) until I started learning Spanish. I really had been using it without realising. But one thing that still gnaws away at me is that I cannot help but think that the subjunctive (in English) is a little redundant and that the meaning would always be conveyed as intended by the non-standard use of the indicative. I would absolutely love a video that gives a concrete example of a statement that is perhaps ambiguous if it's given in the indicative mood but the meaning of which is completely clear in the subjunctive mood.

[@gianlucac.8944]

Awesome job, Gideon, thanks!

[@vit.budina]

Thank you for this, I had no idea the subjunctive even existed. I actually used it quite often without even knowing it, mostly in the form of "... be it X or Y...". My high school teacher never told us about it, explaining the past subjunctive "were instead of was" as just a more socially accepted and common way of saying "was" in the past tense, with no further elaboration on that. Whether or not she told us or even knew about it herself, I now do, thanks to your fantastic video!

[@Abunchofsouvenirs]

Great video! Thank you so much for this one, it was very clear and much needed.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

My pleasure

[@ale-motta]

I've never read about this matter in any English grammar book. Thank you!

[@atates3309]

Fascinating one thanks very much

[@yaroslavyaros599]

Thank you! Very helpful!

[@constantingioev6223]

Wonderful explanation!

[@rogersledz6793]

Thank you so much for uploading this video. It is helping me get through the pandemic!

[@nohisocitutampoc2789]

Excellent vídeo. We need a sequel.

[@jadaanqurdab1090]

You are a great teacher.

[@pavfrang]

I recommend you post more videos! Thank you!

[@sheldrickholmes6864]

I thank you for your clarification of the subjuntive , sir.

[@MilaMlecz]

Great grammar refresher. Thank you;)

[@inesgomez3321]

Thanks a lot. Very clear.

[@nefwaenre]

This will be my first time buying youtuber merch cuz i'm absolutely in love with that tee and i'm buying it for myself! ♥

[@tijanaseptembar]

Beautiful lesson👌

[@basedboy]

Thank you for this video by the way

[@albertojmg13]

THE BEST EXPLANATION EVER!!! I'm Spanish teacher and has been extremely difficult to me explain the spanish subjunctive because I didn't handle well these rules in english and I couldn't make a close equivalence. Now I have a great tool. Thank you! Greetings from Venezuela!!!

[@manuelgonzales2570]

Excellent video! Thank you!!

[@ajs11201]

It's a delight to see someone correctly teaching the English subjunctive. So many English speakers--even those who teach English--don't know about the subjunctive mood. Thank you!

[@nadiaoyanedel7581]

Thanks you so much!!!! you use it a lot but in writing, I guess. Now it is so clear!!!

[@EnglishWithMrBakhri]

Wow! Such an amazing video! Thank you! 😊

[@agnesherendi558]

Thank you Sir for this presentation on subjunctives. It is clear, it is said in a very understandable tempo of speech, it is easy to follow your explanations and you give very good sample sentences. No one before you has managed to make me understand this part of grammar. So am really greatful for you work and enthusiasm to teach people in an easy way. Greetings to you and your team from Budapest. God bless you with good health! :)

[@Vinjhraj]

you are an awesome teacher.

[@lifeandtext]

Superb...even for native English speakers!

[@pauloaraujo3106]

Great class duddy! Love it. I struggle to master english and this video was awesome. Tks

[@amiramirgerard7065]

Thank you so much.Keep on teaching sir I am so interested.

[@fwcolb]

Yes, a great video. Because the subjunctive has almost disappeared in spoken English. And is on its way out in written English.

[@user-gj3fh4zx5t]

Wonderful lesson, sir, I have to watch it some more times - not only because it's informative (and It certainly is, indeed!) But your T-shirt is so informative, too, that It took me half of the time to explore its content, you know.

[@frankgradus9474]

I get a real kick out of binge-watching episodes of LetThemTalkTV on and on. I only wish we had KZbin when I was at school and tried to learn Russian. They taught us many things but not to communicate with Russians. Now I rediscover the beautiful language watching Russian serials, for instance "Кухня", on YT. Мышонку шепчет мышь: - Ты все шуршишь, не спишь ! Мышонок шепчет мыши: - Шуршать я буду тише.

[@_liasova_7820]

@@frankgradus9474 Compelling!

[@bogdanponomarenko4358]

Excellent tutor.

[@healthsy485]

I studied English all my life n never new that we had subjenctive verbs in english. Interesting...thks

[@riyapaulbabar1561]

Thanks for coming up with this vedio. It's very well done. Touched a lot of points on subjunctive. :)

[@shevanoble5244]

!Colosal¡ you are the best teacher. Regards,

[@strafrag1]

Excelent video. Thanks and cheers.

[@bjdon99]

When I learned French, one of big realizations there was that the subjunctive in French led to a whole different set of verb tenses (and a whole different set of irregular verbs). I believe that many Francophone people avoid using that tense in their language when possible, to avoid all this extra word salad in the mouth.

[@mep6302]

That's not true. Native french speakers use it without realizing it. Besides, they feel the need to use it otherwise the sentence doesn't sound correctly. One example is the tendency to use the subjunctive after "après que" when the correct way, according to the Real Académie Française, is the indicative

[@somethingfromthere9777]

Awesome thanks

[@martinaradig8271]

well done, very good explanation

[@litaslon6485]

Thank you very much

[@carlottapuccetti7954]

Brilliant! ❤️

[@hermesrangelc.3155]

Thanks a lot for this interesting information. It was so useful for me.

[@StuffMadeOnDreams]

Nicely explained.

[@LuisFernando-gj4md]

I'd thought there was a fixed rule before I watched this video, now that you recommended that we learn the fixed phrases, I feel less confused. Thanks.

[@guillaumedorange5373]

Yet another aha moment. Thank you Gideon!

[@betterenglishtips8378]

Sar your tips are really helpful to improve my English

[@mariefrenchtutor3180]

Thank you for that video. I teach French to English speakers and they really struggle with the subjonctif. Part of the problem is that most programs I have to follow introduce the rule way too early when the students don't have enough experience with the language. (I believe that at the beginning, grammar should be used only to explain how the language work, without any expectation that the student master it, or even understand it all. When they get more advanced, then it is time to revisit the rules and to more in depth.) The other part of the problem is that my students don't know the rule for the use in English (some believe there is no subjonctive in English). I usually give them a few example, but I realize with your video it is more commun than I thought (sometimes we don't recognize it, and sometimes the speakers simply use a different structure). So I guess from now on I will start my lesson with your video. They will see it in English and it should ease the learning process for the French rule. Thank you!

[@arturjelev1754]

Hi Gideon! Thank you for the lesson I expected for a long time. If you could explain the form "can't help doing smth", please?

[@emilianoho]

Very good one...

[@manjirabanerjee7169]

A gem of a lesson it is! I suggest that every English learner watch this million dollar lesson without fail . Thanks Sir.

[@naninani-ck3zs]

Thanks for all your grate efforts you are making to help learn English to a more advanced level and plz continue providing us an advanced grammar level or phrases like these to improve our English skills. Thank you very much 😊

[@LetThemTalkTV]

I will do that. Thanks

[@mr.bob4630]

I'm a retired translator who, for a few years, worked as a teacher of English as a foreign language. I discovered your channel only recently, and have come back to enjoy a number of your lessons and commentaries, which are interesting and entertaining. Having watched this lesson, I offer the following for your consideration: It could be misleading to characterize these two types of subjunctive in terms of "present" and "past" because both types can refer to present or past time. The first type of subjunctive you discussed (with the infinitive minus "to") expresses requirements or suggestions, and is based on the kinds of preliminary phrases you described. This first subjunctive form is the same for present time, future time, past time, or to express a general principle. "It's important that the union's demands be met (i.e. now, in the near future, or in general)", "It was important that the union's demands be met (e.g. during last week's negotiations)". The other kind of subjunctive, which describes "contrary-to-fact" conditions, expresses a hypothetical, unreal condition. It has a present tense form and a past tense form, which are different. The present-tense form is based on the past indicative (as you described), while the past-tense form is based on the past-perfect indicative. Present: "If I were you, I'd ...". But I'm not you. Past: "If I'd known then what I know now, I would have ...". But I didn't know then what I know now. Incidentally, though I maintain a distinction between the two contrary-to-fact subjunctive tenses, it seems that, generally speaking, the past tense form is on the way out, with the present-tense form now being used for both present and past contrary-to-fact conditions. Many now say "If I knew then what I know now ..." instead of "If I'd known then what I know now...".

[@mep6302]

This is what happened to French. The past subjunctive disappeared. Now they use the imperfect instead. The present subjunctive is still commonly used in French though.

[@bulentozdemir4833]

Hi Mr. Thanks a lot, have a great weekend

[@LetThemTalkTV]

You too.

[@CELINE0355]

Thanks so much Teacher! Really groovy video today💕. Best wishes and Farewell! 👍😘♥️

[@LetThemTalkTV]

A groovy comment. Farewell

[@CELINE0355]

@@LetThemTalkTV Your responses are extremely amusing too.. 😆

[@sameash3153]

A more advanced note about the subjunctive, that is particularly helpful for understanding the fixed expressions or for reading poetry and literature: when used with hypotheticals like "if" and "whether", the subjunctive can actually invert with the subject, and drop the "if" or "whether". So, for "be that as it may", "be that" is actually an inversion of "(if) that be". "Whether it be by X or Y" is frequently inverted to "be it by X or Y", with the "whether" implied, even in Modern English. There is also a "future subjunctive", sort of, with "were to X". "If I were to go" is an example. This can also be subject to inversion, so "were I to go to England, would it be expensive?" is an inversion of "if I were to go". This usage is actually not too uncommon, but is not highly common either. Inversions are especially favored in poetry, because they make the sentence more concise and have a pleasant sound to them. John Dryden in his play Oedipus writes "were the world mine..." instead of "if the world were mine", because the former is much more pleasing to the ear.

[@sameash3153]

One particularly masterful usage of the subjunctive and subject inversion is this passage from The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut: "Constant laughed to himself, thinking how delighted Mrs. Rumfoord would be were the vulgar parvenu Mr. Constant of Hollywood to spend his entire visit treed on the fountain by a thoroughbred dog." The subjunctive here is "were the vulgar parvenu Mr. Constant of Hollywood to spend", which is an inversion if "if [...] were to spend". The inversion is set up by another inversion "how delighted Mrs. Rumfoord would be", (instead of Mrs. Rumfoord would be delighted), which itself is set up by the participle "thinking", which is then wrapped up with one final participle phrase "treed on the fountain by a thoroughbred dog". Inversion upon inversion upon inversion, masterfully connected clause by clause. Notice that this is all contained within one nominative absolute!

[@unpiccolocuore]

Hello, firstly, I thank you for this tremendous goodness of knowledge. Even though I am interested in linguistics, and grammar generally, not once have I thought that "be that as it may" be an inversion. I would like to ask a question regarding replacement of the subjunctive with the infinitive. I do think that I do it wrongly. I either use "to" as in “I suggest you TO go to somewhere else.” or, I use "It is good FOR you to do..." to point out to whom I am talking whilst still using infinitive yet, the latter sounds repetitive since I use this structure all the time and I don't know how to replace it properly and how the native speakers do it. Would you mind explaining the alternatives used in the spoken and the written language? Also, were that be weird would I use subjunctive in if clauses where the conditional is used, and if it is (be?) possible then how can one use the subjunctive for the conditionals properly? For example If I were is an subjunctive structure as 2nd conditional but 1st conditional uses indicative mood with present and future tenses and 3rd conditional uses mostly modals, so I don't know if it is possible to replace them somehow. On top of that, I cann fathom what is the difference between "If I did..." vs. "If I were to do..." in 2nd conditional. I generally perceive the structure "be to-infinitive" as a future tense so this seems like future in the past rather than subjunctive.

[@suhaillegend9081]

How cool was that if I were in UK I would ve given u a massive hug virtual hug anyways to all of u

[@Ab-ih3cl]

Brilliant

[@asharawat3895]

Please make more videos on this topic

[@patriciamargarcia3959]

I've been studying English language for about 20 years now and honestly, I had never heard about the right use of this tense 🙄!!! So amazing.. Thank you so much for this great lesson! Thank you!

[@manfredneilmann4305]

The subjunctive is not a tense like the present or past tense, but a mood of the verb different from the indicative.

[@kNOwOne.]

I really appreciate your Eng Grammar knowledge and the ability to make someone learn easily. I have a little doubt ( At 6,:39 6:40 ) Caron eat or eats