The subjunctive mood is a grammatical tool used to convey concepts of possibility, necessity, emotion, and judgment. It can also be used to indicate commands and present ideas contrary to current conceptions as fact. There are several categories of subjunctive groupings, including present, past, pluperfect, and future subjunctive.
Generally referred to as the subjunctive mood or tense, the subjunctive refers to a verb form that qualifies the existence of the subject as somewhat dependent or doubtful. It is a grammatical phenomenon that occurs in many different languages. In terms of usage, the subjunctive can be employed to convey a number of concepts through verbal and written language, although the actual tense form will not necessarily be the same from one language to another.
The subjunctive is actually a very diverse tool with the world of grammar. One word in this tense can be used to express such broad concepts as possibility, necessity, emotion, and judgment. It can also be used as part of subordinate clauses to indicate commands. Also, a subjunctive can be an important part of the process of conveying a statement that presents an idea contrary to current conceptions as fact.
In modern English, the use of the subjunctive often comes into play to more fully articulate not only the action, but also to say something about the nature of the action. For example, it’s relatively easy to make the non-conjunctive statement “We went to the store for food.” However, the simple statement takes on additional meaning and power when the action is rephrased using a subjunctive. “We were asked to go to the store and buy food,” provides insight into the need associated with the task.
There are several categories of subjunctive groupings. The present and past subjunctive take care of the forms. For example, “I own” is a present subjunctive implying a current state. “I have owned” is an example of a past subjunctive indicating that the form has changed in some way from a previous state.
The pluperfect subjunctive is sometimes referred to as the past perfect subjunctive and can be used to indicate the past tense in a more complete form. It is not uncommon for this type to include the use of the word ‘had’ as part of the verb structure, such as ‘if I had known’ or ‘if I had been aware’. The verb helps qualify whatever information follows.
A third noteworthy form is the future subjunctive. Generally understood to qualify some future action, this type of verb proposes a possibility. “If I were to change” is an excellent example of this, as it indicates that making some sort of change will impact a number of future circumstances.
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