Examples of the subjunctive mood

in English
Common expressions
These are sometimes termed formulaic subjunctives.
be that as it may
blessed be !
far be it from me
if it please the court
if need be
truth be told
God bless [you | her | him | them | us every one]
come what may
[God | Heaven] forbid !
perish the thought
God save [the alpacas | the Queen | the King | our merry band]
suffice it to say

Specific examples in different media

These examples are in reverse chronological order. Overheard denotes examples
overheard in conversation (I was not eavesdropping, I just have active ears !), and
Conversation denotes uses by others in conversations in which I participated (to
maintain privacy, some names have been omitted). Words in the subjunctive are in
bold; words associated with the subjunctive are underlined. My additions or modifying
comments are placed in [square brackets].

I wish it were summer.

It's important that our Judiciary be full.
Hassan asks that a shaman abstract a talc cataplasm that can thwart a blatant rash
(raw scars that can scar a man's scalp and gall a man's glans: scratch, scratch).
The ultimate goal of the Arabs is that the distinction be made ...
It's not really vital he be involved in this call.
It seemed fated that the project take its name from the Scripture celebrating renewal.
If it were not for the pleadings of my granddaughter, you would be dead already.
If you weren't a Doone, I could almost like you.
If only the weather were this reliable.
Harris was determined that the film be authentic.
After vehemently defending the procedures outlined in the many articles, KB's, and
publications from MS regarding the best practices of EFS use, I have come across some
new information (to me, anyway) which mandates that I consume a morsel of crow.
Growing up, my mother was so concerned that we not be brought up as cheap Irish.
It was so important to my mother that we be thought of as classic, lace-curtain Irish.
I did not dictate to the President how he go about ...
Lord help us.
Dr. Clive, this is hardly helpful.
Helpful be damned !
I wish it were enough.
If it were, then you wouldn't be the man I feel in love with.
This would be wise advice, if only the situation were like that if the job were done
and it were time to relax. If only that were true! But challenges abound, and this is no
time to take the future for granted.

If the job really were done, if there were nothing at stake except credit, perhaps it
would be wiser to let the matter drop. But we are not in that position.
The Gore campaign is eager that their candidate step out of the shadows.

If that had failed, he would have urged that the matter be resolved in a family court.
[approximate quotation]
It is imperative that everyone play pianissimo during the spoken monologue.
We are adamant that that not happen.
Last year, North Carolina became the first to mandate its police collect such data,
and after being threatened with federal investigations, New Jersey and Maryland
reached agreements with the federal government ensuring that state troopers would no
longer pull over cars based on the driver's skin color.
It is in the interest of the United States that Russia be a democracy. That is
[essentially] a good thing.
They recommend he remain in jail for another six months until the next review.
And that should put you to rest on any terrain, be it off road or on.
He wishes he were us now.
Apartment Sen. William Lambeth II presented a bill that the SGA request the
university add the official abbreviation of campus buildings what students see in the
timetable - to each building sign.
Mendoza called the junta's action an effort to prevent a bloodbath amid the Indians'
revolt and asked that the military officers who backed the uprising not be punished.
It is extremely urgent that we talk with you right now, sir.
The court blocked an Immigration and Naturalization Service order that the boy be
returned to his father in Cuba.
But if you were a scientist, I think you should ask yourself the same question.
It's essential that my kids pitch in.
According to a separate lawsuit, another Nichiei employee demanded a debtor sell his
daughter into prostitution.

Twenty-eight of Warsaw(Poland)'s 42 prime-location restrooms were leased in early

1999 to private companies on the condition that they renovate and maintain the
toilets.

A group of Albanians demanded that the U.N. Mission in Kosovo put its mascot stray
dog, Unmik, to sleep because he is Serbian.

Installing the server requires that an intruder first compromise a machine by

different means.
YTcracker, a 17-year-old from Colorado Springs, Colo., said he routinely sends
messages to government Web site administrators insisting that they address
vulnerabilities and adopt Unix or other more secure systems, but the messages largely
go ignored.
The deal requires that teachers join the union.
My holiday wish is that nobody go to Lou's Burritos.
It is very important that the charge nurse and the attending physician work together
throughout the shift.
I was going to request that they [television sets] be turned down.
I requested that I stay near Knoxville.
At that time, he also set these parameters: that the obverse design be of one or more
women, that it not depict a living person, and that the design maintain a dignity
befitting the nation's coinage.
I would respectfully suggest that you keep to your cabin.
She said company lawyers also have demanded the Web site be transferred to their
authority.
I took all of the necessary information, but because of her attitude I did not insist that
we call for a police officer.
The car is programmed to respond sluggishly, the way it might if the driver were
indeed intoxicated.
Albright was an attorney, but more importantly, he was a conservationist, and a man
who advocated that national parks be spread all across the county to preserve and
interpret natural and cultural features and serve people.
To deal with these problems of redundant and dual place names, the National Park
Service and the U.S. Board of Geographic Names requested that a nomenclature
committee be established in each state.
But if it weren't so big, it wouldn't be nearly so fun.
I was going to recommend that you buy a second-hand pickup truck, a beater.

However, for your safety, we do require that you keep your seat belt fastened at all
times while seated.
I think it is very critical that Bill Bradley address those issues which politicians have
avoided.
But Parks, upset over the group's vulgarity and profanity, is suing for $25,000 and
has asked that her name be removed from all OutKast products.
Husbands, especially if there were a lot of property involved, needed to know that
their heirs were legitimate.
Hadrian decreed that a new temple be built in the honor of Jupiter.
The FAA has since mandated that [this early-warning radar system] never be
disabled. [approximate quotation]
However this plays in Knoxville, it seems calculated to play well in Nashville where
additional state funding is essential lest the name of the game at UT become Stop the
Music.
Well, she has said that the top priority of the tribunal is that Serbian leader Slobodan
Milosevic and that the Bosnian Serb leaders [names unspellable] be arrested and
brought to the Hague.
I just wish it were easier to use !
I am rather anxious that she discuss this with me soon.
That would have been a huge win, if they were able to pull it off.
It is important that he tell the truth now, lest he be doubted later.
It is imperative that we eat soon.
The ability to find loopholes in a system, be they mathematical, systematical, or
procedural, is vital to a cryptographer.
We would prefer, I'm sure, some form of representative government be installed in
the next couple of days.
Political correctness is a threat to free speech because special interest groups are not
content just to put forth their views, but demand that the opposing view be silenced.
If modern business people weren't able to hold a drink, grab a bite, shake hands and
extract a business card all at the same time, the commercial world would grind to a halt.

A sniper would be almost immediately killed if he were captured.

Any transform, be it monotonic or nonmonotonic, of a Fourier-transform surrogate
should be [temporally] reversible.
I was suggesting that we sit down for a while and discuss this.
My concern is that we make sure we're consistent, so that we can use each other's
libraries.
Arafat asked that Palestinian police chief Ghazi Jabali be allowed to travel from Gaza
to the West Bank town of Ramallah to attend his father's funeral.
It was very critical that everything be done on time.
Custom dictates that the prize date be announced just days in advance.
For our sorority fundraiser, I proposed that we run a series of sports betting pools.
The group with the most votes, whether it be the university community or health care
professionals, will win.
Giuliani demanded the Brooklyn Museum cancel the exhibition; the museum
refused.
It is imperative that we keep this confidential.