Subjunctive Mood forms in English
All in all we can distinguish in English several set structures which generally contain subjunctive mood forms:
1. after the verb wish and phrases would / d’rather: I wish I were/was younger. I wish I hadn’t met him. I wish I were sleeping now. I’d rather you didn’t help me.
2. in complex conditional sentences: If I had his address I would write to him. If I had his address I would have written to him. If I had had his address last year I would have written him a lot of letters. If I had met him before I would be a married woman today. She wouldn’t have told me her story if she disliked me.
3. in clauses of problematic condition that are translated into Russian as «случись так, что …», «если случайно …», «если так случится, что …», « вдруг что-нибудь …»: Should he ask for references, tell him to apply to me. Should anything change, you will return home.
4. in subject clauses which are introduced by the formal subject ‘it’: It is necessary that you should come. It is funny that you should have forgotten. It is possible that they should have guessed it. ( It is likely, unlikely, strange, impossible, …)
5. In the constructions beginning with It is (high) time …. : It is time you went to bed. It is high time he were more serious.
6. after the verbs to suggest, order, command, demand, insist, recommend, advise, propose and the like: I suggest that you (should) go there immediately.
7. after the nouns which correspond to the verbs in point 6: His command was that the soldiers should stop marching. Her advice was that we should come.
8. in predicative clauses introduced by the conjunction as if / as though after the link verbs to be, to seem, to look, to feel, to taste, to smell, etc.: He looked as if he were ill. He looked as if he had been ill. The house looked as if it had been deserted for years. I felt as though I were talking to a child. He sounded as if he were not sure of what he was saying.
9. in adverbial clauses of comparison with the conjunction as if: His eyes wandered as if he were at a loss. He paid no attention to us as if we didn’t exist.
10. in some simple sentences: If only it were true! If only I had listened to my parents! How should I know? Why should you suspect me? Why accuse everybody? Why not go there at once? God bless you! God save the king! The devil take him! Long live the Army!
Note: Don’t mix up conditional sentences of unreal condition with sentence expressing real condition with indicative mood forms;
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If she heard it she gave no sign.
If I have offended you, I am very sorry.
You may go away if it bothers you.
Now it was serious. If I had laughed about it before, I wasn’t laughing now.
If he was lying, he was a good actor.
The basic forms of the English verb: I,II, III, IV.
The infinitive – the past simple – the past participle – the present participle.
Non-finite verb-forms (verbals)
Though non-finite forms are derived from their verbal counterparts, they differ from the latter in the following ways:
· They don’t share all the categories with the verb;
· They don’t perform the syntactic function of the verb, that of the predicate;
· They usually perform the syntactic functions of other nominal parts of speech such as: nouns, adjectives or adverb.
The Infinitive
The infinitive has some verbal morphological characteristics and the syntactic characteristics of the noun.
As for the verbal characteristics it has the categories of aspect, correlation and voice.
| Infinitive | Active | Passive |
| Simple / Indefinite Perfect Continuous Perfect continuous | To write To have written To be writing To have been writing | To be written To have been written --------- --------- |
Examples:
I hope to see you soon. / It may rain tomorrow.
I am glad to have taken your advice. / -Why did she leave so early? She may have felt bad?
They happened, at the moment, to be standing under a big tree at the end of the garden. / She must be sleeping now, don’t phone her.
For about ten years we seemed to have been living on nothing but bread and water. / He must have been sleeping for ten hours by now. It’s time to wake him up.
It is so glorious to love and to be loved.
The report ought to have been submitted yesterday.
The examples make it clear that the idea of tense is represented by the opposition of
perfect – non-perfect forms and has a relative reference to the real time or to the grammatical category of tense. The non-perfect form shows that the action expressed by the infinitive is either simultaneous with or follows the action of the finite verb. The perfect infinitive forms denote an action which is prior to the action of the predicate.
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The syntactic functions of the infinitive are illustrated in the following examples:
1. the subject: To livemeans to create.
2. the object: What do you mean to do with these things?
3. the predicative, the nominal part of the compound nominal predicate: To decide is to act.
4. part of the compound verbal predicate: You can do it without our help.
5. the attribute: It is the only thing to do(that can be done).
6. the adverbial modifier: I have come here to talk to you.(of purpose)
The infinitive is used in some predicative constructions.
Complex Object:
I saw a small boy run across the street.
I want him to do that right now.
I don’t like you to be late.
The doctor recommended the room to be aired.
I know him to be a very good doctor.
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