subunctive

The subjunctive, sometimes misspelled as “subunctive,” is a grammatical mood used to express nonreal or contingent actions and states, such as wishes, doubts, hypotheticals, desires, necessity, or commands in subordinate clauses. It contrasts with the indicative mood, which states factual information.

In English, the subjunctive is relatively limited and largely formal. The present subjunctive uses the base form after verbs of recommendation, demand, or suggestion in that-clauses: “I request that he leave.” The past subjunctive traditionally marks irrealis conditions, with “were” used for all persons: “If I were richer.” In modern speech, “was” is common in place of “were” in many contexts. The perfect or pluperfect subjunctive occurs mainly in formal writing: “If I had known.”

In many other languages the subjunctive is a distinct and productive mood. In Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian it has dedicated forms and is used in subordinate clauses after verbs of doubt, emotion, desire, or necessity, and after certain conjunctions. Examples: Spanish present subjunctive “hable” from “hablar” in “Quiero que hables” (I want you to speak); French “que je fasse” (that I do); Italian “sia” (that she is).

Overview: the subjunctive expresses hypotheticals, wishes, or nonreal events; its use and form vary by language. It is etymologically derived from Latin and remains a core feature of many languages, while in English its use is more restricted and often formal.