In English, the command, also known as the imperative mood, is the same whether you’re talking to one person or 20, to a peasant or to a queen!. Fortunately for you, in English the subju
Trang 11 Each employee (is/was) summoned to Adams’ office for what he calls “a little chat.”
2 All the workers (know/will know) that the “chat” is all on Adams’ side.
3 Adams (likes/like) to discuss baseball, the economy, and the reasons no one (will/would)
receive a raise
4 “(Is/Was) business good these days?” he always says.
5 He always (mentions/will mention) that he may have to make personal sacrifices to save
the company
6 Sacrifices! He (means/meant) that he (earns/will earn) only a million instead of two
mil-lion next year!
7 Maybe he (replaced/will replace) the linen napkins in the executive dining room with
paper
8 After the chat, the employees always (go/will go) out for some conversation of their own.
9 (Does/Do) they review Adams’ performance in the most candid way?
10 Everyone (believe/believes) that the company needs new leadership.
Taking Command: Imperative Mood
I studied a couple of foreign languages in college, and I remember a major headache arriv-ing right around the time I tried to learn the imperative mood Each verb had a bunch of rules on how to form commands — plus irregulars! English is much kinder than those other languages In English, the command, also known as the imperative mood, is the same whether you’re talking to one person or 20, to a peasant or to a queen The English
com-mand form is the infinitive minus the to In other words, the unchanged, plain form of the verb Negative commands are slightly different They take the infinitive-minus-to and add do not, as in do not snivel, do not blink, and do not blubber.
Some examples, with the imperative verb italicized:
Stop sniveling, Henry.
Pull yourself together and meet your new in-laws.
Do not mention our engagement.
Prepare to die if they find out we’re getting married!
Fill in the blanks with commands for poor Henry, who is meeting his prospective in-laws The base verb you’re working with appears in parentheses at the end of each sentence
Q. _ quietly on the couch, Henry, while I fetch Daddy (to sit)
A.Sit The command is formed by dropping the to from the infinitive.
11 Henry, _ my lead during the conversation (to follow)
12 If Mom talks about Paris, _ your head and _ interested
(to nod/to look)
Trang 213 Dad hates bad accents, so _ French (to speak, negative command)
14 _ them to show you slides of last year’s trip to Normandy (to ask)
15 _ asleep during the slide show, if you can help it! (to fall, negative command)
16 _ some of Mom’s potato salad, even if it’s warm (to eat)
17 _ about unrefrigerated mayonnaise and the risk of food poisoning (to talk,
negative command)
18 When she ignores you and serves the potato salad anyway, just _ an
appointment with your doctor and _ quiet (to make/to keep)
19 _ them good night and _ them for a lovely evening (to wish/
to thank)
20 _ that we won’t visit them very often after the wedding (to remember)
Telling Lies or Being Passive:
Subjunctive Mood
The subjunctive is a very big deal in some languages; whole terms were devoted to it in my college Spanish class Fortunately for you, in English the subjunctive pops up only rarely, in two situations: condition-contrary-to-fact and indirect commands
Condition-contrary-to-fact means that you’re talking about something that isn’t true
If I were famous, I would wear sunglasses to hide my identity (The verb were is
subjunctive.)
Had I known the secret password, I would have passed the bouncer’s test and
entered the club
If I had not punched the police office, I would have avoided jail.
Notice that the subjunctive changes some of the usual forms In indicative, the pronoun I
is paired with was (see the section on indicative mood earlier in this chapter for more detail) The switch to were in the first sample sentence tells you that you’re in fantasy land.
Referring to the first sample sentence, I must confess that I’m not famous, though I do wear
sunglasses In the second and third sample sentences, the had does more than its usual
indicative job, which is to place events earlier in the past than other past-tense events (See
Chapter 1 for more details on this use of had.) Instead, in a subjunctive sentence the had
also means that I didn’t know the secret password, the bouncer muttered something about
“getting in when it snows in July,” and I was forced to go the 19th Precinct instead of danc-ing with sports stars and supermodels
Condition-contrary-to-fact sentences always feature a would form of the verb In standard English, the would form never appears in the part of the sentence that is untrue.
Subjunctive verbs also express commands indirectly, as in these sentences, in which the subjunctive verb is italicized:
The bouncer requested that he remove himself from the line as soon as possible.
The club owner declared that guests wearing unfashionable clothes be denied entry.
Trang 3Subjunctive, indirect commands are formed by dropping the to from the infinitive In the first sample sentence, the pronoun he normally (that is, in indicative mood) pairs with removes In subjunctive, the infinitive to remove loses the to and becomes remove In the second sample, guests pairs with be, which is created by dropping to from the infinitive to
be The indicative form would be guests are.
Write the correct verb in the blank for each exercise in this section The verb you’re work-ing with appears in parentheses after each sentence Just to keep you honest, I tucked in a few sentences that don’t require subjunctive Keep your eyes open
Q.If Ellen _ for her turn at the wheel, she wouldn’t have wrapped her car
around that telephone pole (to prepare)
A.had prepared The had creates a subjunctive here, because Ellen didn’t prepare for her
road test Instead, she went to a drive-in movie, as a passenger
21 The motor vehicle tester asked that Ellen _ ready for her exam at 9 a.m
(to be)
22 The test would have gone better if Ellen _ a morning person (to be)
23 “If it _,” explained the instructor, “you will be required to take the test as
soon as the roads are plowed.” (to snow)
24 If the snow plow _ the entire route, Ellen would have passed (to cover)
25 Unfortunately, the supervisor of the snow-removal crew declared that the highways
_ cleaned first (to be)
26 Terrified of ice, Ellen requested that the examiner _ her test (to postpone)
27 If he _, Ellen would have taken the test on a sunny, warm day (to refuse,
negative form)
28 If Ellen _ about the examiner, the motor vehicle department would have
investigated (to complain)
29 If an examiner _ unfair, the motor vehicle department schedules another
test (to be)
30 The department policy is that if there _ a valid complaint, they dismiss the
examiner promptly (to be)
31 If Ellen _ the test fives times already, she would have been more cheerful
about her grade (to take, negative form)
32 If in the future Ellen _ to another district, she may have more luck (to go)
33 Not every county, for example, cares if the driver _ into a tree (to skid)
34 If only Ellen _ to Smithsburg, she would have a license already (to travel)
35 Smithsburg requires that a driver _ “reasonable competency” and nothing
more (to demonstrate)
Trang 4Calling All Overachievers: Extra Practice with Moody Verbs
If you master the three moods (cranky, irritable, ready to bite someone’s head off), try your hand at this exercise The progress report in Figure 13-1 has some serious mood problems Check out the underlined verbs, circle the ones that are correct, and cross out and correct the ones that are in the wrong mood
Progress Report: Coffee Break Control
From: Ms Bell, Coffee Break Coordinator To: Ms Schwartz, Department Head Re: Coffee Break Control
July 31, 2006
As you know, I were now in charge of implementing the new directive that every employee submits to a residue test If a test were given at a time when coffee-sipping were not authorized and the results were positive, the policy require that the worker “donates” a pound of coffee to the break room
Do not asked me to describe the union’s reaction to this directive If I would tell you what the shop steward would have said, you had blushed All I would say is that the steward were not happy
Would you have known about the reaction before issuing the directive, you would have had reconsidered One more thing: the coffee stains on my shirt, if they were to come out, should not make you thought that I were drinking coffee outside of the official break time These stains result from coffee being thrown at me
Figure 13-1:
This progress report contains some verbs that are in the wrong mood
Trang 5Answers to Verb Mood Problems
a is The sentence speaks of an on-going situation, so present tense is best.
b know The workers have been through this “chat” many times, so the act of knowing isn’t in the
future but in the present
c likes, will The present-tense form for talking about someone (Adams, in this sentence) is likes.
The future-tense verb will explains that in the coming year, as always, employees will be
shop-ping in the bargain basement
d Is The expression these days is a clue that you want a present-tense verb that talks about
some-thing or someone
e mentions If an action always occurs, present tense is the best choice.
f means, will earn The boss is talking about the future (the clue is next year) The talking takes
place in the present (so you want means), but the earning is in the future (hence, will earn).
g will replace The maybe creates a hypothetical situation, wondering what the boss will do in
the future
h go An on-going situation calls for present tense.
i Do The subject they calls for the plural form.
j believes Although everyone sounds like a plural, it’s actually a singular pronoun requiring a
singular verb
k follow The command is formed by stripping the to from the infinitive.
l nod, look Drop the to and you’re in charge, commanding poor Henry to act interested even if
he’s ready to call off the engagement rather than listen to one more story about French wine
m don’t speak or do not speak The negative command relies on do.
n Ask Poor Henry! He has to ask, which in command form is ask.
o Do not fall Take to from the infinitive and add one do and you have a negative command.
p Eat Henry’s in for a long evening, given the command Eat, which is created by dropping to from
the infinitive
q Don’t talk or Do not talk The negative command needs do or it dies.
r make, keep Drop the to from each infinitive and you’re in imperative mood.
Trang 6s Wish, thank The imperative verbs are created by subtracting to from the infinitives.
t Remember Somehow I doubt that Henry will forget this fact, but to order him, take to from the
infinitive
u be The subjunctive is needed for this indirect command, expressed by the verb asked.
v were Ellen likes to sleep until mid-afternoon As she’s not a morning person, the subjunctive
verb were expresses condition-contrary-to-fact The verb were is better than had been because Ellen still is not a morning person, and had been brings in the past.
w snows Surprise! This one isn’t subjunctive The instructor is talking about a possibility, not a
condition that didn’t occur The normal indicative form, snows, is what you want.
x had covered The plow didn’t finish (the clue here is would have passed), so subjunctive is
needed
y be An indirect command is created by the verb declared The subjunctive be fits nicely.
A postpone The indicative (the normal, everyday form) of to postpone is postpones, when the
verb is paired with examiner Here the indirect command created by requested calls for the sub-junctive postpone.
B had not refused The examiner stood firm: Take the test or die Thus the first part of this
sen-tence is condition-contrary-to-fact and calls for the subjunctive
C had complained Ellen said nothing, as revealed by the conditional would have investigated in
the second part of the sentence Subjunctive is the way to go!
D is Did I get you here? The possibility expressed in the if portion of the sentence calls for a
normal, indicative verb (is) Stay away from subjunctive if the statement may be true.
E is The first part of this sentence is not condition-contrary-to-fact It expresses a possibility and
thus calls for the normal, indicative verb (is).
F had not taken She has taken it five times, so the statement isn’t true and needs a subjunctive.
G goes Here the sentence expresses a possibility She may go and she may have more luck Stay
away from subjunctive if the sentence may be true
H skids As in sentence 32, this one talks about something that is true (or may be true) Go for the
normal indicative and give the subjunctive a rest
I had traveled She didn’t travel, and she (thank goodness) doesn’t have a license This
condi-tion-contrary-to-fact sentence needs the subjunctive
J demonstrate The verb requires tips you off to the fact that subjunctive is appropriate for the
indirect command