Subjunctive mood and its features in English

When studying English, special attention should be paid to the topic "Subjunctive mood". In Russian, we very often meet sentences in a conditional mood. Moreover, the conditions can be either feasible or completely unrealistic. And they all have a certain structure and way of construction. The fact is that in the Russian language the situation, which implies the use of a conditional mood, can be displayed only in one form. As for English, there are some differences. The matter is that the population of Great Britain sees in this information some differences, in particular, the reality or unreality of the performed action. Therefore, a variety of forms of subjunctive mood arose.

In English, this topic is small, but its understanding largely depends on the correctness of speech. The most important thing is to properly remember the condition for constructing a proposal.

The subjunctive mood in English expresses the possibility or unreality of the alleged action. There are four types of conditional sentences that differ in composition and application.

The zero type is characterized by the fact that the conditional part begins with If and the verb is used in Present Simple, and the main verb in the main part is expressed in Present Simple. Examples can be:

1. If I come back early, I watch TV or read books (If I come home earlier, I watch TV or read books).

If it gets dark, we go home.

This type is distinguished by the fact that the subjunctive mood is simple enough to form, which can not be said about the other kinds of sentences.

As for the first type, it deals with the forthcoming, not the existing, action. Its structure is as follows: the main part contains the main verb used in Future Simple, and the dependent begins with If, and the verb is used in Present Simple. When translating, one should pay attention to the fact that it is a question of the future, and not of the present tense. Examples can be:

1. If he comes home early, he'll go for a walk with friends. If he comes home sooner, he will go out with friends.

2. We'll do our tasks, if he gives us the example. We will do our tasks if he gives us an example.

The subjunctive mood of the second type is distinguished by the fact that the action here is completely unreal, but it is being talked about in the present tense. The structure of the construction of such sentences is as follows: in the dependent part, If is used with the verb in Past Simple, and in the main part, the form would also have the first form of the verb, i.e. Present Simple: If I were God, I would help all people to find love and a piece. If I were God, I would help all people find love and peace. Note that in this type in the singular it is customary to use not the form was, but was.

The subjunctive mood of the third type is considered the most difficult to understand and compose. In statements, the same unreal situation is displayed, as in the previous type. Only narration is conducted not in the present, but in the past tense. The sentence structure is as follows: If + Past Perfect, would have + P3 (third verb form ). Examples are the following sentences:

1. It would have been wonderful, if I had got you telephone number two days ago. It would be nice if I had your number two days ago. Accordingly, the event is listed as unreal, because the situation can not be changed: the number was not when it was needed.

2. If he had seen you last year, I would have not made so many mistakes. If I saw you last year, I would not have made so many mistakes.

Based on the above examples, you can see that the subjunctive mood in English has some peculiarities of use, without knowing which it is possible to admit a lot of mistakes in the construction and use of this or that expression. Note that conditional sentences are quite common in speech, we encounter them daily. To study the rules of their construction is not difficult, because each type corresponds to a certain structure and time. First of all, it is necessary to determine the degree of reality of the situation, because in English this feature plays a very important role in the choice of the verb form.