Microsoft Word Theoretical Course of English Grammar

Nino Kirvalidze
56
Pick your plates up from down there, will you? 
Pass me his drink please.
Just dump it at the door there.
The question tag 
will you
does little to soften the command. 
Please 
has a softening effect, but it 
is in some ways a minimal politeness strategy. 
Just 
makes the imperative seem less demanding 
and easier to comply with. It is clear from these and other examples that an imperative can 
express a range of directive speech acts, varying from commands to offers and invitations, 
depending on the situation and the kind of demand made on the addressee. 
Imperatives are frequently used in conversation because speakers often try to direct the 
activity of listeners. Similarly, fiction texts use imperatives in dialog passages. It is more 
surprising that the written informative registers need imperatives. In fact, imperatives are more 
frequent than questions in news, academic writings, advertisements and instructions, presuma-
bly because writers can use them to manipulate the reaction and behavior of the reader.
The subjunctive mood presents an action as unreal or hypothetical. There are two forms of 
the subjunctive. They are traditionally called the present and past subjunctive, although the 
distinction relates more to mood than to tense.
The form of present subjunctive coincides with the infinitive of the verb. Accordingly, 
the subjunctive form 
be
is distinct from the indicative forms 
am
, 
is
, and 
are 
(e.g. 
Be it as you 
wish.
). For other verbs, present subjunctive is distinctive only in the 3
rd
person singular as it 
does not take the inflection -s. Present subjunctive is used in certain set expressions: 
God bless 
you. Long live the King. God save the Queen, 
and so on.
Negation of the present subjunctive 
does not require an operator (i.e. the auxiliary 
do
). For instance: 
I insist that the Council not 
reconsider its decision. 
The past subjunctive is identical in form with the simple past of the verb. The exception is 
the verb 
be
which occurs in the past subjunctive as 
were
with all the persons both in singular 
and plural. Because of this, the past subjunctive is sometimes referred to as 
were
-subjunctive. 
The past subjunctive is hypothetical in meaning. It is used mostly in conditional clauses and in 
subordinate clauses after 
wish
and 
suppose
: 
If I were a rich man, I would travel in Africa. 

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Theoretical Course of English Grammar 
Script by prof. 
Nino Kirvalidze
57
I wish the journey were over. 
Just suppose everyone were to act like you. 
There are two analytical forms of the subjunctive mood: a) the form which is homonym-
ous with the past perfect and which is used in conditional clauses of the third type (also called 
“unreal for ever clauses”), expressing the situation unfulfilled in the past and b) the form with 
the mood auxiliaries should/would + indefinite or perfect infinitive of the main verb. For 
instance: 
If I had had some money with me I would have bought that beautiful dress. 
If I were you I would go to the concert with you. 
The owner of the firm demanded that the manager should resign.