The Subjunctive Mood: How to Use the Subjunctive Mood in English! Improve your English Grammar!

If I were you, I would watch this video and learn how to use the subjunctive mood in English! The subjunctive mood is a point that many students who study English often get confused with. Today’s lesson aims to clear up that confusion and help you create awesome subjunctive sentences!

There are two main moods in English, the indicative mood and the subjunctive mood: 1. The indicative mood is used for things are are true, that are facts. 2. The subjunctive mood is used for things that are not facts, that are imagined and hypothetical.

The subjunctive mood is mostly used in three main ways:
1. Suggestions or recommendations
2. Demands or requests
3. Wishes

The most common pattern with the subjunctive mood is:
Subject + Verb + That + person + base verb + object.
There are also 12 specific verbs that are usually used with this structure: suggest, recommend, propose, advise, demand, insist, ask, request, command, desire, wish, prefer.
Ex: Her husband suggests that she visit the doctor. I request that you subscribe to JeN's Jyugyou. They recommend that he study English grammar.


Another common structure with the subjunctive mood is for requests that are urgent or important. The subjunctive form used this way is:
It is + Adjective (which means important) + that + person + base verb + object.
The top six adjectives used in the subjunctive this way are: urgent, important, crucial, imperative, essential and vital.
Ex: It is important that she learn English grammar. It is crucial that he listen carefully. It is essential that we pay our taxes.


*Note: In British English sometimes the word ‘should’ is added to these types of sentences. In American English something the word ‘that’ is omitted. Here in Canada, both of these possibilities can be heard in Canadian English.Ex: I suggest she visit the doctor. I suggest that she should visit the doctor. I suggest she visit the doctor.


For wishes in the subjunctive mood we often use the following pattern:
I wish I were … In this situation, all pronouns must use ‘were’.
Ex: I wish I were rich. She wishes she were smarter. We wish it were sunny. They wish they were in Canada. He wishes he were famous.
We can also use would with wishes in the subjunctive mood: I wish I would win the lottery. She wishes he would call. His wife wishes he wouldn’t drink so much.


Another point for the subjunctive form is conditional sentences. Often used for giving advice, a very common sentence structure in the subjunctive mood is:
If I were you, I would …
Ex: If I were you, I would give this video a thumbs up. If I were you, I’d study English every day.
This pattern for the subjunctive also includes other types of conditionals using ‘if’ and ‘would’ such as: If I were a bird, I would fly. If he were to win the lottery he would travel around the world.


For more examples and extra grammar tips for the subjunctive mood, be sure to watch the entire lesson.


By the end of today’s English lesson you will have learned many important tips on how and when to use the subjunctive mood that you can use to sound like a native English speaker. This lesson will to help you improve your English grammar and teach you useful sentence structures commonly used with the subjunctive mood. Thank you for watching, “The Subjunctive Mood: How to Use the Subjunctive Mood in English! Improve your English Grammar!” I hope these grammar tips will be useful for you as you improve your English and successfully talk about unreal / hypothetical situations in the subjunctive. Good luck with your English studies!



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Would is used with a few of the sentence structures in today’s grammar lesson. Watch this lesson to learn the 7 ways we used would in English: https://youtu.be/KNH7luWSuHU


One way that the subjunctive mood is used is for making suggestions. Check out this English lesson for more ways to make suggestions: https://youtu.be/GceMCylpGnc


The two main moods in English are the indicative and the subjunctive. There is also a third mood in English called the Imperative. Although the subjunctive mood is sometimes used for demands and requests, the imperative mood is always used for commands, requests, and even giving directions! Learn more here: https://youtu.be/Ytt_aab0jek


The subjunctive mood is used for wishes, but setting actual goals and having a plan to obtain them, is even better than just wishing for success. Watch this lesson on how to set SMART goals to achieve your dreams: https://youtu.be/wntl-YeIocs





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