AoW# 20

1. Highlight/label the thesis

2. Annotate the textshow your thinking
3. Write three trigger questions.

Save the Subjunctive!
By Philip B. Corbett
New York Times/September 2012
The peril is not new. Indeed, one Ida M. Mason warned darkly of the danger in the pages of The Times
back in 1924.
Subjunctive in Danger
To the Editor of The New York Times:
How many 100 percent Americans are alive to another sinister and subtle danger
that is threatening a vital prop[ortion] of the nation. . .the frequent disregard of
the subjunctive mood, from pens of those who should know better? In these parlous
time what comfort is there to take refuge in a book only to be jarred by, If I was
thus and so, I would do this and that, again and again by English and American
writers of note? Is everything topsy-turvey these days? Even oil or the troubled
waters produces storm instead of calmand one by one time-honored institutions and
conventions go by the board, but if the subjunctive mood goes, then all is lost.
Now I demand a Congressional investigation to discover what sinister propaganda
is at the bottom of this new peril. Our mis-representatives have only a few dozen
investigations on handand something must be done to save the subjective or
conditional vote.
Ida M. Mason
New York, March 12, 1924
The shadow she feared was, of course, the frequent disregard of the subjunctive mood, from the pens of
those who should know better. And since then despite my repeated efforts to rally support for Ms.
Masons cause the crisis has only grown.
For those few still unaware of the stakes, here is a reminder from The Timess stylebook (Garner and the
American Heritage usage manual have useful summaries as well):
subjunctive. Use this form of verb to express a wishful notion or a proposition contrary to fact:
The mayor wishes the commissioner were retiring this year (not was retiring, because the commissioner
is staying on).
If the commissioner were rich, she could retire (not was rich, because she needs the salary).
If the bill were passed, taxes could go down (not was passed, because it is still just a hope).
Do not use the subjunctive form (even with a tantalizing if in the sentence) when the intent is merely to
convert an is idea to the past tense:
The mayor asked if the commissioner was rich (the past version of asks if she is rich).
Secretary Kuzu asked if the bill was going to pass this year (simply the past version of asks if it is).
But: If the bill were going to pass, Secretary Kuzu would know by now (not was going to pass, but were,
because the hypothesis is untrue: the bill is unlikely to pass).

One cue to use the subjunctive is the phrase as though or (preferred) as if. Either phrase signifies that
what follows is contrary to fact: Secretary Kuzu acts as if she were (not was) in the White House. The
actor looked as if he were sick.
Here are a few examples of lapses, including contributions from sharp-eyed readers (though not from Ida
M. Mason):

One reason is that American workers are particularly ill equipped to cope with the dislocations caused by
foreign competition. An American worker who loses her job to trade or technology will find herself in a
much worse spot than if she was, say, German or French.
This is what the grammarians call a contrary-to-fact condition the worker is not, in fact, German or
French and so it requires the subjunctive. Make it than if she were, say, German or French. (The
conditional part of the construction is implied: in a much worse spot than [she would be] if she were
)

The governor, too, is a boisterous guardian of his public image; his video team follows him everywhere
and spins out product as if it is a runaway MTV unit.
Another contrary-to-fact condition in reality, the New Jersey governors video team is not a runaway
MTV unit. Make it as if it were a runaway MTV unit. (Or, in this case, we could have stuck with what
the writer originally filed: spins out product like a runaway MTV unit.)

A good personal policy for what can (and cant) be expensed can be established through this self-directed
question: Is this something I would pay for if I was operating inside my own life, or is this something
Im only doing because Im not paying for it?
A column like this strives for a conversational tone, but conversational doesnt have to mean
ungrammatical. Make it the subjunctive if I were operating.

He suggested that, if the City Council wereunhappy, perhaps Apple could move. The company is
Cupertinos largest taxpayer, with more than $8 million in property taxes assessed by local officials last
year.
This one is a hypercorrection; we used the subjunctive when it was not wanted. Sequence-of-tense rules
after the past suggested required the simple past tense: if the City Council was unhappy (see the last
example in the stylebook entry above).