Subjunctive Mood // English Grammar Lessons

In this lesson, we will finally speak about one of the most mysterious phenomena in English - the Subjunctive Mood. I will explain how, in what sentences, after what expressions, and with what purposes it is used in modern English. I hope this lesson will help you structure your knowledge of the Subjunctive Mood and fill any gaps you might have.
00:00 Introduction
01:52 What is the Subjunctive Mood?
03:41 The Subjunctive Mood forms
04:35 2 classifications of subjunctives
05:33 'Synthetic' and 'analytical' in linguistics
07:18 Subjunctive I
09:01 Subjunctive II
11:45 What does 'unreal' mean in grammar?
13:26 The analytical forms of the Subjunctive Mood
15:47 Mandative, volitional, and Formulaic subjunctives
17:22 The Subjunctive Mood in simple sentences
19:41 The Subjunctive Mood in complex sentences
21:14 The Subjunctive Mood in conditional sentences
30:29 The Subjunctive Mood in subordinate clauses of purpose
31:37 'Lest'
33:41 The Subjunctive Mood in subordinate clauses of concession
35:38 The Subjunctive Mood after 'whenever' and 'wherever'
36:35 The Subjunctive Mood after 'as if' and 'as though'
40:12 The Subjunctive Mood in predicative clauses
41:16 'It is necessary that...'. The Subjunctive Mood in subject clauses
44:28 Wish-clauses and the Subjunctive Mood
50:14 'She suggests that...'. The Subjunctive Mood in object clauses
52:10 The Subjunctive Mood in subject and object clauses: comparison
53:40 The Subjunctive Mood after 'it is time...'
55:02 The 'emotional should'
59:33 'Would rather' and 'would better'
01:01:45 Conclusions
01:02:28 Test
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📚 Present Tenses: • Present Tenses // Engl...
📚 Past Tenses: • Past Tenses // English...
📚 Future Tenses: • An Exercise on the 12 ...
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[@zhengxianggu]

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[@sergekhakhin]

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[@gabrieloarga7212]

Indeed, comprehensively English! Thank you very much for this lesson! ❤

[@pejman.h]

You are an amazing teacher.

[@Nisaess]

Thank u for more detailed explanation dear teacher ❤

[@AbdArrahmanYaseen]

I have just ended the class, and made subscribe for your great channel, really it is just torrent of information in such complicated topic, great elaborated explanation you have illuminated me, thank you. your sincere new follower

[@comprehensively_english]

Thank you for your words. Such words inspire me to continue. I'm happy if my video helped you.

[@NaveenKumar-mr8vs]

It is our fortunate to have a teacher like you as you make us get a good grasp on every topic providing comprehensive knowledge about it. thanks a lot and please! keep uploading such beautiful content. I have a question about **Emotional Should** what is the difference between the subordinating clauses carrying "Should + simple infinitive and Should+perfect infinitive". I believe that they convey the same meaning because the real fact to which we express our attitude is always happened/realised/prior happened the verb we mention in the main clause. please! explain it.

[@comprehensively_english]

Thank you for these kind words, @NaveenKumar-mr8vs You are right, to some extent. They do have the same meaning. In such clauses the structure 'should + have +V3' doesn't have any accusative meaning.Yet, there's one thing to keep in mind. 'Have + V3' may be used after 'should' to refer to a particular situation that happened prior to the action of the main verb (like in my example 'To think that it should have happened to me!' Compare it to this, 'To think it should happen in the 21st century!' The first sentence refers to a particular situation, 'there and then', while the second one speak about the present in general). Thus, when we employ 'emotional should', we don't normally use 'have + V3' after it unless it is necessary for us to refer to some moment of time that preceded the main action. Hope I answered your question.

[@everythinginhindi9816]

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[@ninadelorme5846]

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[@dharmendradudhe688]

Very good

[@Hrishikesh304]

😊

[@sandipbangal3752]

I have found no words to describe my pleasure for learning the vast area about the subjunctive mood and thanks and keep going and l will be writing.Could u suggest some grammar books for profound knowledge?

[@sandipbangal3752]

Read waiting instead of writing.

[@comprehensively_english]

Thank you for your words! I'm really happy if my videos help people who want to master English. As for the books, I like this one: a.co/d/68xTfEC And also this (some of my students like it more because it is a bit more visual): a.co/d/0X4TF3I

[@utkarshupadhyaya759]

Commendable… I wish I had come across this video earlier….

[@williamruy9350]

Thanks x One Milion

[@Siya_Mnisi]

Do conditionals that have suppositional subjunctives fall under 2nd conditionals or are they in their own category that's neither 2nd, 3rd, nor mixed conditional? Suppositional subjunctives exemplified by the sentence you used, "If I should ever see her again, I shall tell her about my feelings."

[@comprehensively_english]

There's no separate category for such conditionals. Conditional sentences that contain the suppositional subjunctive all express unreal conditions. The example that you highlighted is Conditional I. It speaks about a situation that is unreal now but is considered possible in the future.

[@Siya_Mnisi]

@@comprehensively_english I see. Thank you, and for wonderful videos as well.

[@nirajthakor9748]

Mam I'm in trouble with unreal past situation how to use WISH and Past subjunctive mood.. 1) I wish it started raining before we leave from here (I'm telling this to myself in *SUMMER* because i don't want to go) 2) I wish it would start raining (the situation i told above) 3) I wish i spoke English fluently 4) I wish i could/would speak English fluently Now here 3 and 4 how could we differenciate with COULD and Past subjunctive? Because I will have ability only when at least i know or should know about some grammar or structures so should i use PAST SUBJUNCTIVE? but why does people tend to use COULD..I wish i could do, i wish could speak they just throw an excuse ABILITY without thinking anything. 5) I wish i didn't eat chocolates like this 6) I wish i wouldn't eat chocolates like this Now here dilemma is till now i believe that we can't use WOULD with ourselves or one who is subject himself so we can never use WOULD like *(I wish wish wish.. i would stop smoking) ???*

[@comprehensively_english]

Thank you for your question. We should avoid using 'would' after 'I wish' when the subject of the main clause and the subject of the subordinate clause are the same. You cannot say, "I wish I would eat less sweets", but you can say " I wish you ate less sweets". The latter implies that you're upset about someone else's behavior and you wish they stopped doing what they are doing. As for 'could', it does express an ability. "I wish I spoke English" means "I regret that I do not speak English" and "I wish I could speak English" means "I regret that I don't have the ability to speak English". 'Could' emphasises the speaker's ability or inability to do something whereas the second form of the verb merely speaks about the fact that the speaker doesn't speak English (and we don't know due to what reason - because he/she doesn't know how to speak, can't speak in general, or because there's some other reason). Hope it helps.

[@nirajthakor9748]

@@comprehensively_english Ohhhh thanks mam!.. As you told we can't use Would with subject of the main clause and subject of the subordinate clause but we can use "I wish you didn't" but if i upset or annoyed with someone or their habits then i can also use Would? "I wish you wouldn't" but we just can't use second form of verb with ourselves? I wish i would stop smoking instead would i say "I wish i stopped smoking" Now with that could one it's necessary to know about reasons or facts why that one isn't able to do something? But i know I just don't know English and that's why I can't speak so there's flat reason so should i say "I wish i spoke English" i think i need particular Example from you regarding COULD and Second form of verb. 🙏

[@comprehensively_english]

That's right, @@nirajthakor9748 When you speak about yourself, you say, "I wish I stopped smoking" or "I wish I didn't smoke". To someone else, if you're upset about what the person is doing, you can say, "I wish you wouldn't smoke in my apartment". First of all, 'could' is a modal verb. It expresses modality, in particular, ability to perform an action. There're other things that 'could' as a modal verb can express, but let's stick to this one for now as the rest of its meanings are not important in the context of the subjunctive mood. Thus, when we say 'I can swim' in the present or 'I could swim when I was 5' we mean that we are or were able to stay afloat, we had such a skill. We speak about our physical ability generally, without mentioning a particular situation or a particular experience we had. Neither do we mention whether we swam often or not. What these sentences tell us is just a general piece of information about the speaker's physical ability to perform the action of swimming. Compare them now to "I swim" or "I swam". These sentences tell us not about a general ability, but about the action. The tense of the verb helps us express what kind of action we are talking about - one episode in the past, a regular action in the past or a regular action in the present, etc. The same idea applies to the subjunctive mood with the only difference that we don't have tenses in the subjunctive mood and that's why we won't be able to go describe the action we're talking about. But we still speak about the difference between stating an ability to do something versus a fact of doing it. This way, "I wish I swam" means "I would be great if I performed/was performing the action of swimming now" and "I wish I could swim" means "It would be great to know how to swim, to have such a skill in general". Hope this will help you clarify the difference.

[@nirajthakor9748]

@@comprehensively_english Thanks a bunch mam! 🙌 But whatever i have understood with your given example is when i say i wish i swam (it means whatever reasons there are or circumstances that i wouldn't able to swim is *hidden*) and I wish i could swim (it means if i had such a skill how to swim or so i could) Mmm..! I feel like I'm so close to understand this but still there is something is stopping me to understand...Like If I hadn't such a skill or simply I don't know that process how to do then it's the same for past subjunctive i think i need a real and practical example. And I would pick my original example here again. Suppose, I'm sitting outside of the office for interview...And it's general inability not perticular (and it's very obvious that i can be asked anything in English but i know I don't know how to speak English) So sitting there what would be appropriate to say I wish i spoke English fluently I wish i could speak English fluently Now let's take your given example I wish i swam (if i would be able to) But but but when to use it????????? I wish i could swim (now i know if i knew how to swim or had such a skill then only i could perform) But why am i finding THE SAME REASON for not being able to do for the both? If I don't know how to swim, there is no need to tell that I don't have that skill because it speaks itself without mine and alternatively we reach on the same path we are ? I wish i swam or i wish i could swim? But suppose if i randomly say "I wish i swam" (so what were those situations i would use it? )

[@comprehensively_english]

You're right,@@nirajthakor9748 You should also keep in mind that the semantic difference between these to sentence ('I wish I did smth' and 'I wish I could do smth') normally is little. Unless you want to stress your ability or inability to do something, you may just use the second form of the verb. Your example is great. Both 'I wish I spoke English' and 'I wish I could speak English' are absolutely appropriate in the situation you described. The only difference - and this difference is really slight - is that in the second sentence you stress your inability to speak English with the help of 'could' which makes the sentence sound a tiny bit more dramatic. As to my example, you could say 'I wish I swam', for instance, in a situation when a friend of yours tells you that he or she regularly goes to the swimming pool and has a great time there. In such situation you might regret that you don't swim (don't practise swimming in general) and don't go with him or her to the pool to have fun. Another similar example would be saying 'I wish I drank alcohol' (jokingly) in a situation where your friends are drinking and having fun. 'I wish I could drink' would be a bit strange in this case because what prevents you from drinking? Drinking isn't something one must learn to do, is it? Consider also these two examples; I wish I helped you. I wish I could help you. The first sentence doesn't sound natural, does it? Because if one wants to help, one helps. But 'I wish I could help you' tells us that the speaker wants to help but he or she can't do it due to some reason. Despite all his or her desire to help, he or she is unable to do it. I hope I managed to illustrate the difference.

[@prabhakar7137]

What is the name of the book? Would you please tell

[@comprehensively_english]

Unfortunately, I cannot give you a particular name, as my lessons are not taken from one particular book. The information I give in my lessons has been collected from various sources over many years of teaching, and the example sentences I provide you with are my own. When I do take examples from books, I supply them with the source they were taken from, and usually these sources are literature or newspapers.

[@prabhakar7137]

Thank you so much for your reply.... which book would you suggest.... for English grammar

[@comprehensively_english]

@@prabhakar7137 I'd recommend to start with "English Grammar in Use Book" by R. Murphy. For more advanced learners, "Longman Advanced Learners' Grammar" by M.Foley and D.Hall as well as "English Grammar" by B. Azar are very good.

[@prabhakar7137]

@@comprehensively_english thank you so much for your reply. I am a Central government teacher in India. I can talk fluently and teach students effectively my subject (geography)in English.but I want to master over English grammar so that I can teach my students . Thank you once again for your reply.

[@comprehensively_english]

@@prabhakar7137 You're welcome. I'm always happy to help if I can.

[@oleksandrolex3848]

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[@hoochlemon1182]

Да, произношение голимое хохляцкое