Definition and Examples of Subjunctive Mood in English

Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms

On the set of Casablanca
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In English grammar, the subjunctive mood represents a verb expressing wishes, stipulating demands, or making statements contrary to fact. The word subjunctive comes from the Latin word "subjungere" meaning to subjoin, bind, or subordinate.

The present subjunctive is the bare form of a verb or a verb with no prefix or suffix. It does not show agreement with its subject. (Example: "I strongly recommend that he retire.") There are two patterns of the present subjunctive:

The formulaic subjunctive is often seen in idioms and other types of figurative language and the mandative subjunctive is often seen in expressions


Guidelines for Using the Subjunctive

The subjunctive may be used in the following circumstances in speech and writing.

  1. Contrary-to-fact clauses beginning with if:
    "If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?" (Abraham Lincoln)
  2. Contrary-to-fact clauses expressing a wish:
    (Harrison Ford as Rusty Sabich in Presumed Innocent, 1990)
  3. That clauses after verbs making commands or requests (including ask, demand, insist, propose, request, and suggest):
    "I demand that he leave at once."
  4. Statements of necessity:
  5. Fixed expressions that remain in their original form or close to it:
    as it were, be that as it may, far be it from me, heaven forbid, if need be, so be it, suffice it to say

It is worth noting that the subjunctive mood is used less frequently in informal settings than in formal ones. For example, it is arguably more common to hear someone say "If I was you" than to hear them say "If I were you. . In many instances, the indicative mood has come to replace the subjunctive. Because it is difficult to use the subjunctive correctly in informal speech and even writing in the context of modern English, many scholars agree that this mood has run its course.

  • "As with the misuse of whom instead of who, ... using the subjunctive wrongly is worse than not using it all, and will make you look pompous and silly," (Marsh and Hodsdon, 2010).
  • "The subjunctive mood is in its death throes, and the best thing to do is put it out of its misery as soon as possible," (Maugham 1949).

The Were Subjunctive

The were subjunctive essentially occupies its own category within this mood due to how often the verb were is found in the subjunctive mood and how closely it has come to represent the form. As the following scholars explain, the were subjunctive refers to nonreal scenarios—when used properly—and is today often replaced with a combination of the past tense "would" and the auxiliary "be."


Subjunctive Mood Examples in Media

To better understand how verbs in the subjunctive mood appear in formal and informal speech and writing, read the following examples from literature and movies.

    (Humphrey Bogart as Rick in Casablanca, 1942)
    (Duke Orsino in "Twelfth Night" by William Shakespeare)


  • Dumond, Val. Grammar for Grownups: A Guide to Grammar and Usage for Everyone Who Has to Put Words on Paper Effectively. HarperCollins, 2012.
  • Leech, Geoffrey, et al. Change in Contemporary English: A Grammatical Study. Cambridge University Press, 2012.
  • Marsh, David, and Amelia Hodsdon. Guardian Style. 3rd ed. Random House, 2010.
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Nordquist, Richard. "Definition and Examples of Subjunctive Mood in English." ThoughtCo, Dec. 2, 2020, Nordquist, Richard. (2020, December 2). Definition and Examples of Subjunctive Mood in English. Retrieved from Nordquist, Richard. "Definition and Examples of Subjunctive Mood in English." ThoughtCo. (accessed August 4, 2021).