GP1: Week 9

GP1: Week 9

The Subjunctive and Unreal Past

The Subjunctive: Basic Points to Remember

• Careful English: present and past subjunctive (infinitive; past/were)

• Informal English: should + infinitive, present/past simple

• Verbs: advise, ask, demand, insist, proposed, recommend, request, suggest

• Adjectives: advisable, anxious, desirable, eager, essential, important, necessary, preferable, vital, willing

• Negative: not + verb

Multiple Choice

It is vital that claims ... to the committee with full supporting documentation.

• are submitted

• be submitted

Multiple Choice

My boss insisted that I ... our top client to lunch.

• take

• took

Multiple Choice

Clause 25.6 of the Treatment of Offenders Act suggests that each offender ... a monthly visit from a probation officer.

• receive

• receives

Multiple Choice

In the episode, the main character suggests that his wife ... the doctor.

• visit

• visits

Multiple Choice

It is imperative that ear protectors ... at all times when operating the machine lathes.

• are worn

• be worn

Multiple Choice

They require that all reports ... to the committee for approval.

• are submitted

• be submitted

Multiple Choice

The UN requested that the government ... its policy.

• amend

• amends

Multiple Choice

The boss insisted that the salesforce ... its results.

• improve

• improves

More practice (homework):

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sHrZMWbsvgWJ6PoH17cRC_YzeXjs8uaZl-Zlg_FLXbU/edit?usp=sharing

The Unreal Past: Describing Unreal/Imagined Things in the Present, Past, and Future

• If only/wish/suppose + past = present

• If only/wish/supposing + past perfect = past

• What if/Supposing + present = future

• Careful English: "were" instead of "was" (past subjunctive)

• Other introducing expressions: It's time, What if, Suppose/Supposing, would rather, would sooner, as, as though, wish

• It's high/about time that + only positive

Multiple Choice

"I wish we had a house with a pool," said ...

• Alan, who loves swimming but doesn't have a pool in his house.

• Mary, who has a swimming pool in her house.

• Teresa, who used to own a house with a swimming pool.

Multiple Choice

"Supposing we got rid of the pool?" asked ...

• Alan, who loves swimming but doesn't have a pool in his house.

• Mary, who has a swimming pool in her house.

• Teresa, who used to own a house with a swimming pool.

Multiple Choice

"It's high time we changed the water in the pool," said ...

• Alan, who loves swimming but doesn't have a pool in his house.

• Mary, who has a swimming pool in her house.

• Teresa, who used to own a house with a swimming pool.

Multiple Choice

"If only the pool hadn't been so expensive to maintain," said ...

• Alan, who loves swimming but doesn't have a pool in his house.

• Mary, who has a swimming pool in her house.

• Teresa, who used to own a house with a swimming pool.

Multiple Choice

"Suppose we hadn't had a pool for all those years?" said ...

• Alan, who loves swimming but doesn't have a pool in his house.

• Mary, who has a swimming pool in her house.

• Teresa, who used to own a house with a swimming pool.

Multiple Choice

"I'd rather we had our own pool," said ...

• Alan, who loves swimming but doesn't have a pool in his house.

• Mary, who has a swimming pool in her house.

• Teresa, who used to own a house with a swimming pool.

Multiple Choice

"People say I sometimes talk as if I had my own swimming pool," said ...

• Alan, who loves swimming but doesn't have a pool in his house.

• Mary, who has a swimming pool in her house.

• Teresa, who used to own a house with a swimming pool.

Multiple Choice

"What if we'd never had a pool?" asked ...

• Alan, who loves swimming but doesn't have a pool in his house.

• Mary, who has a swimming pool in her house.

• Teresa, who used to own a house with a swimming pool.

Multiple Choice

"If only the children would use our pool more often," said ...

• Alan, who loves swimming but doesn't have a pool in his house.

• Mary, who has a swimming pool in her house.

• Teresa, who used to own a house with a swimming pool.

Multiple Choice

"I wish I could go back to the days when we had our own pool," said ...

• Alan, who loves swimming but doesn't have a pool in his house.

• Mary, who has a swimming pool in her house.

• Teresa, who used to own a house with a swimming pool.

More practice (homework):

Ex. 2 and 6 (Foley and Hall, U11)

Let's talk!

You have about 2 minutes for each topic.

Talk about what you...

• would do supposing the members of your group were unwilling to discuss the topics with you.

• wish you had at the moment.

• wish your parents/friends/partners would stop doing.

• wish you had done when you were 16.

Talk about what you...

• would have done last year supposing you had known what this year would look like.

• would have done supposing there hadn't been a lockdown in March?

• would do if your friends behaved as if the coronavirus were not a serious public health challenge.

• you'd rather be doing right now. :)