Grammar is making a comeback. State-by-state assessments of students in English/Language Arts are causing the teaching of grammar to return to the classroom. Each rule can be a little tricky; this is why isolating each rule and understanding its purpose is a useful method for learning grammar.
The subjunctive tense is a verb form that is identical to the ‘simple’ or ‘bare infinitive’ forms, and is most often used to express urgency. A bare infinitive form is the same as the infinitive form (i.e., to suggest) without the ‘to’ – hence, it is called ‘bare.’
- The noted exception to this similarity is the past tense of be, which is were.
As stated above, the subjunctive most often follows a verb or expression that suggests importance, emphasis, or urgency.
The following is an example of a subjunctive, following a verb:
- I strongly suggest that you participate in the discussion.
And, an example of a subjunctive, following an expression:
- It is crucial that you participate in the discussion.
The subjunctive tense also appears in negative, continuous and passive forms. This is an example of a negative form of the subjunctive tense:
- It is crucial that you not abdicate your role in the discussion.
Also, note this example of the passive form of the subjunctive tense:
- It was important to the coordinator that the audience be invited to participate in the discussion.
Finally, this is how the continuous form of the subjunctive tense appears:
- Some sources insist the event’s coordinator will be requiring audience members to participate in the discussion.
Understanding each rule for itself is an aid to understanding what something is, and what something is not, and so when faced with a question on what type of verb tense is being used in a sentence, the question and possible answers will make sense and a correct answer can be found using logic.
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