Are you in the Mood to Learn the Subjunctive
2025/11/29大约 3 分钟
Are you in the Mood to Learn the Subjunctive
Mindmap
Words in This Story
| word | meaning | 出处 | 含义 | 关联 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| diplomatic | skilful at dealing with people | The subjunctive offers speakers a polite and diplomatic way to tell someone to do something | 灵活变通的 | |
| supervisor | a person who supervises somebody/something | Imagine you are a supervisor. You want your employee to stop being late for work. | 主管、监管 | supervise |
| vital | extremely important | It is vital that he takes his medicine. | ||
| senator /ˈsenətə(r)/ | a member of THE SENATE | 参议员 |
common verbs
| word | meaning | examples | 语气 | 使用场景/含义 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| propose | to formally suggest sth as a possible plan or action | At the meeting a new advertising campaign was proposed. | 正式 | 提出计划或方案 |
| suggest | to mention a plan or an idea that you have for sb to discuss or consider | Tony suggested going out for a walk. | 委婉 | 提议。参考 |
| advise | to tell sb what you think they should do | I would strongly advise you to take the job. | 权威 | 医生-》患者 |
| recommend | to say that sb/sth is good and that sb should try or use them or it | Which film would you recommend? | 电影推荐。/带有比较，经过自身判断之后做出的评价 | |
| request | to ask for sth | Passengers are requested not to smoke on this bus. | 礼貌/正式 | 书面通知 |
| insist | to say strongly that you must have or do sth, or that sb else must do sth | He always insists on the best. | 强硬 |
adjectives
| word | meaning | 出处 | 含义 | 关联 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| essential | completely necessary; that you must have or do | |||
| imperative | very important or urgent | |||
| important | having great value or influence; very necessary | |||
| necessary | that is needed for a purpose or a reason |
| word | meaning | examples | 含义 |
|---|---|---|---|
| authoritative | that you can trust and respect as true and correct | Politicians love to use the subjunctive because it gives a serious and authoritative tone to what they are saying. | 权威性的 |
| nominee | a person who is suggested for an important job, prize, etc. | the presidential nominee of the Republican Party | 被提名人 |
| critically | in a way that is extremely important because a future situation will be affected by it | it's critically important that the next president of the United States 。。。 | 至关重要地 |
原文
Politicians love to use the subjunctive because it gives a serious and authoritative tone to what they are saying. Listen to Florida Senator Marco Rubio using the subjunctive in a 2015 speech. At the time, he was seeking to become the presidential nominee of the Republican Party.
"And I just think it's critically important that the next president of the United States be someone that understands the 21st century and has ideas that will make America…allow America to fulfill its potential."
A good way to practice the subjunctive is to listen to political speeches in English. You are likely to hear both of the forms that we discussed today.
There are many other ways that English speakers use the subjunctive. We covered some of them in our episodes on conditionals and advanced conditionals. Another common use is to express wishes, as we showed in our episode on modals of certainty and hope.
Until next time, remember: it is important that you learn the subjunctive.- be likely to do something: You are likely to hear
| word | meaning | 出处 | 含义 |
|---|---|---|---|
| politician | A person who is involved in politics | Politicians love to use the subjunctive | |
| political | The adjective form related to the noun politics is political | listen to political speeches | |
| politics | Politics means the activities of the government or people who try to influence the way a country is governed. We use a singular verb with it. | ||
| policy | Policy means a plan of action or a set of rules agreed by a business, a political group or a government, saying what they will do in a particular situation. |