All I ask is that he clean the basement after his friends leave.
If she were in charge of the fundraiser, she would raise a lot of money.
I wish that this room were warmer.
He would have gone to your birthday party, if he had known about it.
Jill's teacher recommends that she take advanced placement science next year.
The customers insist that they be moved to a new table.
<h3>
Further Explanation</h3>
Subjunctive verbs are used to communicate an order, request, wish, or hypothetical. The subjunctive form of a verb usually uses the third-person form of the verb without the -s. However, this is not true for the verb <em>to be</em>. The subjunctive verb form for <em>to be</em> is either <em>were</em> or <em>be.</em> To understand this even further let us look at the sentences from the question.
Sentence 1: All I ask is that he clean the basement after his friends leave.
- In this sentence <em>clean</em> is the correct choice because it uses the third-person form <em>cleans</em>, but drops the -s.
Sentence 2: If she were in charge of the fundraiser, she would raise a lot of money.
- Here we are using <em>to be</em> to make the subjunctive mood. Since the subject of the verb is third-person singular we need to use <em>were</em>.
Sentence 3: I wish that this room were warmer.
- Again, similar to sentence 2, the subject of the verb is third-person singular and we know that this needs a subjunctive verb so <em>were</em> is the correct choice.
Sentence 4: He would have gone to your birthday party, if he had known about it.
- In this sentence, you must choose between <em>had</em> and <em>were</em>. It is important here to note that the hypothetical is for something that has already happened. It is not still an option. In this case, we need to use the verb <em>had</em>. Also, it is important here to show why <em>were</em> is incorrect. Even though <em>were</em> indicates using subjunctive, it would completely change the meaning. Saying <em>were known</em> switches the thing being known to he, not the birthday party.
Sentence 5: Jill's teacher recommends that she take advanced placement science next year.
- This is similar to sentence 1. The third-person form is <em>takes</em>. To make it subjunctive, the -s must be dropped.
Sentence 6: The customers insist that they be moved to a new table.
- This sentence uses <em>to be</em> to create a subjunctive mood since this sentence is an order. They haven't yet been moved to the table, so using were is incorrect because the sentence would then be in simple past tense. <em>Be</em> is the correct choice because it keeps the subjunctive mood with a third-person plural subject.
<h3>
Learn More</h3>
<h3>
Answer Details</h3>
Grade: Middle School
Subject: English
Chapter: Types of Verbs
<h3>
Key Words</h3>
- subjunctive mood
- subjunctive English
- subjunctive definition
- subjunctive verbs
- subjunctive verb form