Unreal Time and Subjunctives

Unreal time
and subjunctives
• Here are some websites that I`ve found
useful to understand what the subjunctive
really is:
• https://
www.englishclub.com/grammar/subjunctiv
e.htm
• https://www.eltconcourse.com/training/inse
rvice/modality/subjunctive.html
It`s (high) time/about time + Past
Simple/Continuous
• It refers to unreal time, something that we
should have done a long time ago; a
complaint
• It`s (high) time (that) you went to bed. –
You should have ALREADY gone to bed.
• It's (high) time (that) you got married. –
You are not married yet, but if you got
married, that would be good.
Wish + Past Simple/Past
Continuous
• we use this structure to express what we
want to do/change at the present moment
or in the future
• I wish I had more time! – I don`t have
enough time but I would like to.
• I wish I was going/went to New Zealand. –
I want to go there some time in the future.
• we can also use “if only” instead of wish
using the same structure
Wish + would + Past Perfect
Simple
• past wishes refer to a past event that cannot

be changed so we go one stage back again
• I wish I had travelled more as a teenager
• We can use “if only” to express regrets in
the same sense: If only I had travelled more.
Wish + would + Present
Simple
• we use it when we want somebody or
something else to change
• I wish she would go on vacation (She
hasn`t been on vacation for 10 years)
• we also use “would” to describe an
annoying habit/behaviour:
• I wish you would stop biting your nails (I
wish you wouldn`t bite your nails)
Hope + Present Simple/Will +
Infinitive
• we use it to express our wishes about
future events
• I hope you have a wonderful day/I hope
you will have a wonderful day.
• I hope it snows/will snow tomorrow.
• we can use both form to express future
wishes, the meaning remains the same
The Magpie, Claude Monet

I'd rather
• I'd rather is followed by past verb forms in the same way

as wishes about the present when we have a different
subject:
• I'd rather you visited me tomorrow.
• BUT: when the subject is the same in both closes, we
use Present Simple:
• I'd rather (I) visit you tomorrow.
• Same applies to past wishes:
• I'd rather you had visited me yesterday.
• I'd rather I have visited you yesterday.
• Source:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-gramma
r/would-rather-would-sooner
I'd prefer
• I'd prefer can be used in the same way as
I'd rather, BUT note that “prefer” in IF
sentences it is required that we use an
object it.
• I'd prefer it if you didn't go there. (Present)
• I'd prefer it if you hadn‘t gone there. (Past)
• https://speakspeak.com/resources/english-
grammar-rules/various-grammar-rules/wou
ld-rather-versus-would-prefer-and-prefer
As if/as though
• the verb form here depends on whether the
situation is true or unreal:
• You look as if you're tired – true, he really is
tired
• He acts as if he owned this place – unreal,
he does not own it, but behaves like he does
• more colloquial “like” does not require this
verb form change: You look like you've just
seen a ghost vs You look as if you'd just
seen a ghost.
Suppose/imagine
• the conditional part of these sentences is often

understood but not stated:
• Imagine you won the lottery! (You would be thrilled if you
won the lottery – the first part is left out)
• Suppose you lived on Bora Bora! (My dream would come
true if I lived there)
• if the event referred to is a real possibility, rather than
imaginary, a present verb form is also possible:
• Suppose you start watching Peaky Blinders tonight, I will
glady join you. (If you start watching it tonight, I will join
you)
More examples with Past Perfect
• Imagine I had never lived here! (I have
lived here my entire life)
• Suppose you had never met him! (He
would not be your partner now)
Demand, insist, require, suggest
• After the verbs that involve an obligation or
some advice, the subjunctive may be used in
formal style; the verb to “be” always stays “be”:
She demanded that he do his homework
• He suggested that she go out with him
• They insist that he be promoted to a higher rank
• It was required that she send her CV to another
department
• less formally, should can be used without
changing the verb form: He requested that they
should work harder.
Fixed expression with subjunctive
• God save the Queen!
• Heaven help us!
• Be that as it may (nevertheless, what you say
may be true, but…, despite; this statement
acknowledges the validity of the other person’s
point, but it maintains that the point has not
swayed anyone’s opinion – bilo kako bilo, u
svakom slučaju):
• Be that as it may, I will still get my hair done.
• Bless you!
• So be it!
• Come what may (no
matter what, similar to
“be that as it may”)
• I am going to start
eating healthily, come
what may (nothing is
going to stop me).
Excercises:
• I wish you ____ (study) harder for this exam.
• I recommand that he ____ (be) taken care of.
• It`s high time you ____ (start) excercising.
• I`d rather you ____ (not speak) that loud.
• I wish I ____ (play) sports more often as a child.
• I`d prefer it if you ____ (speak) behind her back yesterday.
• He jumped up, as if he ____ (see) a ghost.
• Imagine you ____ (see) an UFO!
• Suppose you ____ (never/start to work) for this company!
• You look as if your name ____ (be) Ernest! You are the
most earnest-looking person I ever saw in my life! It is
perfectly absurd your saying that your name isn't Ernest.
You just learnt about
The subjunctive

Unreal Time and Subjunctives

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Unreal Time and Subjunctives

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Unreal time

• past wishes refer to a past event that cannot

The Magpie, Claude Monet

• I'd rather is followed by past verb forms in the same way

• the conditional part of these sentences is often

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