The subjunctive mood is a bit more arcane than other entries on our list of favorite grammar gaffes, like subject-verb agreement. Still, it’s a sign of polish and precision to get this right. The subjunctive is most often used in contrary-to-fact conditions and for wishes and other hypothetical expressions.
We stumble both by failing to use the subjunctive when we should and by overcorrecting and using it when it isn’t called for. Here are two examples of each:
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Right above that is another standard city street sign that reads “A New St,†as if “A New†is the block’s appellation.
This is a contrary-to-fact condition; the road’s name is not “A New Street.†So use the subjunctive “were†instead of the indicative “is†or “wasâ€: “as if ‘A New’ were the block’s appellation.â€
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Instead, here’s what would actually happen if the president was understood to be taking the “mint the coin†option seriously.
Another contrary-to-fact condition; he’s not really taking this option seriously. So make it “if the president were …â€
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David Gale, the Simon & Schuster executive who bought the “Nate†books, said a sales agent at the company asked whether the kiss were needed and whether it would limit sales. But Mr. Gale noted that it was key to the book.
We were led astray, apparently, by “whether.†But this is not a contrary-to-fact condition, just an indirect quotation after the past-tense verb “asked,†so the subjunctive is not called for. Sequence-of-tense rules demand a regular past-tense verb: “a sales agent asked whether the kiss was needed.†(The original question was “Is the kiss needed†After the past-tense “asked,†“is needed†becomes “was needed.â€)
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But one final hurdle has been set by a Manhattan Surrogate Court judge. Noting that the will specified that the art should go to the colonel’s brother-in-law and two friends if the collection were not kept together, Judge Nora Anderson told the museum in December 2011 that it must search for these three men’s descendants before she would rule.
Again, no need for the subjunctive “wereâ€; this is not a contrary-to-fact condition. The original provision was something like, “if the collection is not kept togetherâ€; to put the whole clause into the past, make it “if the collection was not kept together.†(This was later fixed.)
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In a Word
This week’s grab bag of grammar, style and other missteps, compiled with help from colleagues and readers.
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With the industry’s popularity has come concerns over safety, pollution and the impact of thousands of tourists.
The inverted structure may have thrown us off, but the subject of the sentence is the plural “concernsâ€; make it “have come concerns …â€
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At times, when dealing with Audubon, boundaries between bird and human dissolve.
A dangler; the boundaries are not “dealing with Audubon.†Rephrase.
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[Correction] An article on Thursday about the prospects of a free-trade pact between the United States and the European Union misstated the potential benefit of such an accord to BMW’s revenue. It could add hundreds of millions of euros annually, not hundreds of billions.
Every mention of “millions†or “billions†in a story should draw extra scrutiny from writer and editor. This is wrong not by one letter, but by a factor of 1,000. A moment’s thought would make clear that we couldn’t possibly be talking about hundreds of billions of euros in added revenue for one company.
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Ben Clark’s decision to begin “The Alaskan Way†with the ominous scene that followed the March 13, 2012, avalanche and the deaths of the helicopter ski guide Rob Liberman and his snowboarding client, Nickolay Dodov, were motivated by the message that appears on a blackened screen near the end of his film: “Is living the dream worth risking it allâ€
Another agreement problem; the overstuffed sentence may have thrown us off track. Make it “decision … was motivated.â€
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“I’ve had relatives who served in World War I, World War II,†said Pete Gullo, a descendent of Jacob Nicklis, whose body may have been one of those interred. …
Based on the genealogist’s findings, potential descendents were asked to contribute swabs of their saliva for DNA testing.
“Descendants,†not “descendents.†It was misspelled twice in this story, though spelled correctly in other places.
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The change will restore the last stop on the No. 1 train, a critical link for Staten Island Ferry riders, and patch one of the few gaping service disruptions that has lingered since the late-October storm.
Recorded announcement: In this construction, the relative clause describes the “service disruptions.†So the relative pronoun “that†is plural and requires a plural verb, “have lingered.â€
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The outer crust gave way to a moist blonde interior, shot through with red and green maraschino cherries that glistened so brightly it seemed he could turn off the lights and read by them.
Use “blond†as an adjective; use “blonde†(rarely) only as a noun, referring to a woman or girl.
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The calculations also depend crucially on the mass of the top quark, the heaviest known elementary particle, as well as the Higgs, neither of which have been weighed precisely enough yet to determine the fate of the universe.
Make it “neither … has been weighed.â€
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Wall Street expected no more than 165,000 additional jobs in February, and the surprise helped lift the Dow Jones industrial average to another new nominal record, its fourth for the week.
“New†is generally redundant with “record.†Also, somewhere the story should explain what we meant by “nominal†â€" in this case, it means without adjusting for inflation.
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Cruz was a fluffy marshmallow of a dog, a prizewinning Samoyed who flew commercial, not in the cargo hold; scarcely touched the sidewalk; and competed at this month’s Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.
The semicolons, while technically correct, make this otherwise playful lead seem clunky and choppy. We could have found a defter way to smooth out the series. Perhaps “… a fluffy marshmallow of a dog â€" a prizewinning Samoyed who flew commercial rather than cargo, scarcely touched the sidewalk, and competed at this month’s Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.â€
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Prices for the 30 apartments in the new 51-story building are expected to fetch upward of $8,000 a square foot, which would be $48 million for a 6,000-square-foot apartment.
The apartments themselves, not the “prices,†will fetch $8,000 a square foot.
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The main reason the Knicks do not shoot many free throws is because they had shot the second-most 3-pointers in the league, behind the Houston Rockets.
Recorded announcement: “The reason … is because†is redundant. Change “because†to “that,†or recast the sentence, which is clunky anyway.
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Housing grades 6 through 12, he said, the school’s aim will be to catch lagging students early.
Another dangler. It is not the aim that houses grades 6 through 12.
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At one point, the moderator of the forum, Brian Lehrer, asked whether there was anyone on stage besides Ms. Quinn who opposed paid sick leave now. No one raised their hand.
“No one†needs a singular verb or pronoun. Make it, “No one raised a hand.â€
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But beyond that, they are college students, a sui generis, and unless they are English majors, their game-day vocabulary rarely has room for words like “prudence†or “consequence.
“Sui generis,†meaning unique, should be used as an adjective, not a noun as here. When in doubt, consider English.
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Either Darrelle Revis will play for the Jets in 2013, or he won’t. The simplicity of that statement obscures a complicated problem, one that will lord over the team until it is resolved, be it in six days, six weeks or six months.
“Lord it over†means “to act in an overbearing, dictatorial manner (toward)â€; that does not seem to be what we meant here. Perhaps “loom overâ€
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Tony Vaccaro’s photograph “White Death†shows the snow-covered body of a soldier, whom Mr. Vaccaro discovered was his best friend, Henry Tannenbaum.
Recorded announcement: Make it “who,†not “whom,†the subject of “was.â€
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The Federal Trade Commission said Thursday it had filed eight lawsuits in federal courts around the country against companies it accused of ordering or engineering the sending of hundreds of millions of scam text messages to mobile phone users.
Use “that†after “Thursday†to make clear that the time element goes with “said,†not “had filed.â€
