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📘 You write I wish I was. The teacher writes were.

You sit down with a pencil and write five words. I wish I was a bird. The teacher puts a line through was and writes were above it. Nothing about yesterday changed. You did not fly. You are still in the chair. The word that moved is not a c

4
lessons
~20 min
to learn
Adults
level
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What you’ll learn

  1. Mood is the coat, not the clockTell tense from mood, and sort a verb into indicative, imperative, or subjunctive using Purdue's three coats.You write I wish I was. The teacher writes were. Tense is a clock. Mood is a coat. English has almost run out of the third coat, and Year 6 only asks for it in a formal room.
  2. If I were youUse were rather than was after if and wish when the thing is not true, and recognise Were they to come as the formal flip.If I were you is not a time. Zoë is not president. Were they to come drops the if. I wish I had a puppy is not last year. Everyday was is walking in. Year 6 still wants were.
  3. The school requires that he beSpot the mandative leftover: after require, demand, suggest or move plus that, the verb stays in its base form.The school requires that all pupils be honest. Not enter, no does. I suggest that Ed drop the matter, not drops. Require, demand, suggest, move — then that — then a bare verb. The everyday twin puts should in.
  4. Formal rooms onlyChoose the leftover coat only in a formal room, walk four checks before naming it, and go and find a were or a was tonight.Question tags are the informal twin. God save the King still wears be. Four checks: job, were, flip-or-bare, room. Tonight, steal a sentence. The was-versus-were fight is still open.

Questions this course answers

Which pair does Year 6 Appendix 2 print as subjunctive forms used in some very formal writing and speech?

Appendix 2 names If I were and Were they to come as the subjunctive examples, and it pairs them with informal question tags as the other coat.

Purdue's rule for to be when the thing is not true.

Purdue says: when using the verb to be in the subjunctive, always use were rather than was. If he were here. If I were smart.

Match each of Purdue's three lines to the mood it is wearing.

Purdue's review is three lines: indicative states, imperative orders, subjunctive marks the not-true. The question tag is Year 6's informal twin, not a fourth Purdue mood.

Put these checks in the order you should walk them before naming a verb's mood.

Sort the job first. Then check were. Then check the flip and the demand. Last, ask if the room is formal — that is the Year 6 question.

Which sentence uses the subjunctive the way the national glossary prints it?

The glossary's example is If Zoë were the class president, things would be much better. Were marks the imagined situation. The others are past fact, present fact, and a command.

In your own words, why does The school requires that all pupils be honest. use be instead of are?

The glossary's first example is a demand, not a description. After require that, the verb stays bare: be, not are. The honesty is required, not reported.

Grounded in trusted sources

  • Department for Education, English Appendix 2: Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation (Year 6: the difference between structures typical of informal speech and structures appropriate for formal speech and writing, including question tags and subjunctive forms such as If I were or Were they to come in some very formal writing and speech), https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/335190/English_Appendix_2_-_Vocabulary_grammar_and_punctuation.pdf
  • Department for Education, National curriculum in England: English programmes of study (years 5 and 6: recognising vocabulary and structures that are appropriate for formal speech and writing, including subjunctive forms), https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-english-programmes-of-study/national-curriculum-in-england-english-programmes-of-study
  • Department for Education, Glossary for the programmes of study for English (non-statutory): subjunctive — English has very few such forms and those it has tend to be used in rather formal styles; examples: The school requires that all pupils be honest; The school rules demand that pupils not enter the gym at lunchtime; If Zoë were the class president, things would be much better; also past tense used for imagined situations: I wish I had a puppy, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/238985/English_Glossary.pdf
  • Purdue University Online Writing Lab, Verbs: Voice and Mood (indicative states a fact or opinion; imperative expresses commands or requests with understood you; subjunctive shows something contrary to fact; for to be always use were rather than was; review: I need some help / Help me! / If I were smart, I'd call for help), https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/active_and_passive_voice/verbs_voice_and_mood.html
  • LibreTexts, Brehe's Grammar Anatomy, 1.21 Many Things (But no Cabbages or Kings): the subjunctive in hypothetical situations, suggestions, wishes, speculations and prayers; Blessed be the name of the Lord; I move that this meeting be adjourned; If I were you, I would tell him off; I suggest that Ed drop the matter versus I think that Ed should drop the matter; If Dad were here versus If Dad was here now regarded by many as acceptable, https://human.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Composition/Grammar/Grammar_Anatomy_(Brehe)/01%3A_Chapters/1.21%3A_Many_Things_(But_no_Cabbages_or_Kings)
  • Common Core State Standards Initiative, English Language Arts Standards, Language, Grade 8: L.8.1.c (form and use verbs in the indicative, imperative, interrogative, conditional, and subjunctive mood); L.8.3.a (use verbs in the active and passive voice and in the conditional and subjunctive mood to achieve particular effects, e.g. expressing uncertainty or describing a state contrary to fact), https://www.thecorestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/L/8/

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