The 'Subjunctive' Mood

For knowledge's sake remember that there are three primary moods in English grammar - Indicative mood, Imperative mood and Subjunctive mood.

The GMAT will, in all probability, only test you on the use of the Subjunctive mood so we'll restrict the scope of this post to the same.

The subjunctive mood is primarily used in the following two situations:

Situation 1: To indicate a hypothetical situation, a wish, or a circumstance contrary-to-fact.

Situation 2: To make a suggestion, demand, desire, etc.


The following rules apply to each of the above two situations respectively:

Situation 1 - When contemplating hypothetical or contrary-to-fact situations, always use 'were' and 'would'.

Important - Please note that even if the subject is singular you will still use 'were' and not 'was'.

Examples:

1. If I were rich I would buy a BMW.
   
   
2. If petrol were cheaper I would use my car everyday.
   
   
3. If I were you, I would contest the elections.

Situation 2 - Verbs like order, suggest, demand, etc. must be followed by 'that' and the infinitive form of the verb being ordered or suggested.

Examples:

1. The teacher recommended that Jerry be expelled from the class.
   
   
2. The manager demanded that John show up for work on time.
   

So how do you figure out whether a question is testing you on the use of the Subjunctive mood? Here are a couple of tips:

1. Check for words such as 'if', 'wish', etc. Though these can also be used in the other moods, they are most commonly tested on the subjunctive mood.
   
   
2. Ask yourself if the sentence is talking about an uncertainty, a wish, a suggestion, a demand, etc. If it is then you are dealing with the subjunctive mood.
   

To Sum it Up

1. If a sentence talks about hypothetical or contrary-to-fact situations use 'were' (not 'was') and 'would'
   
   
2. With verbs such as 'demand', 'suggest', 'insist', etc. what follows should be 'that' and the infinitive form of the verb being ordered.