In my previous blog about the subjunctive, I spoke about those situations in which the writer or speaker must decide whether a statement is an outright presentation of fact (requiring the indicative mood) or a hypothetical statement or one contrary to fact (requiring subjunctive). And, for you die-hard grammarians, I promised a future column about this esoteric subject.

So, here it is.

Other uses for the subjunctive occur in set, idiomatic expressions and with verbs of wishing and demanding. Fortunately these two categories usually take little analysis and are spoken correctly with no thought at all by native speakers.

Idioms displaying the subjunctive include “God forbid,” “heaven help him,” “wish she were here,” “lest I be considered,” “be that as it may.” The verb form in these phrases is subjunctive, formed by using the base word from the infinitive form of the verb. So, for the verb to be, the present subjunctive is be, in contrast to the indicative forms am, are, and is. (The past tense subjunctive for the verb to be is were, although it is past tense not in a temporal sense, but only a modal sense. See how complex this subject can be.)  In regular verbs the subjunctive can be discerned only in the third person singular because the normal “s” ending is dropped: God forbid (subjunctive); God forbids (indicative).

Wishes and demands also take the subjunctive, although the indicative seems to be gaining favor with wishes. “I wish I were more flexible on the dance floor [subjunctive]”; “I wish I was more flexible on the dance floor [indicative].” “The teacher demanded that Lynn close her book immediately and insisted she do the rest of the drawing from memory [both verbs are subjunctive].”

Enough of this tiring explanation. Most of you will use the subjunctive correctly without even thinking. For those debatable instances in which the most formal of writers would instinctively use the subjunctive and less formal writers would just as instinctively opt for a more conversational indicative, you will have good company no matter which style you follow.

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