§438. Subjunctive Mood

The Subjunctive in general expresses the verbal idea with some modification¹ such as is expressed in English by auxiliaries, by the infinitive, or by the rare subjunctive (§ 157. b).

a. The Subjunctive is used independently to express—

• An Exhortation or Command (Hortatory Subjunctive: § 439).
• A Concession (Concessive Subjunctive: § 440).
• A Wish (Optative Subjunctive:§ 441).
• A Question of Doubt etc. (Deliberative Subjunctive: § 444).
• A Possibility or Contingency (Potential Subjunctive: § 446).

For the special idiomatic uses of the Subjunctive in Apodosis, see § 514.

b. The Subjunctive is used in dependent clauses to express—

• Condition: future or contrary to fact (§§ 516. b, c, 517).
• Purpose (Final, § 531).
• Characteristic (§ 535).
• Result (Consecutive, § 537).
• Time (Temporal, § 546).
• Indirect Question (§ 574).

c. The Subjunctive is also used with Conditional Particles of Comparison (§ 524), and in subordinate clauses in the Indirect Discourse (§ 580).

SUBJUNCTIVE IN INDEPENDENT SENTENCES

Hortatory Subjunctive