Stephanie was here. I wish Stephanie were here. Tim picks up the dry cleaning. It’s imperative that Tim pick up the dry cleaning. You are on time. It’s crucial you be on time. Have you ever noticed ...

Farewell, subjunctive mood. Nice to have known you. This year's obsequies are prompted by editorials in two respected journals. In February, The New York Times discussed the proposed merger of two ...

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writes about Poynter’s Roy Peter Clark Roy Peter Clark, a writing guru at the Poynter Institute, writes this week about a grammar subject near and dear to my heart: the ...

READING a story on the fate of European newspapers, your columnist was drowning in bad news—newsrooms decimated, advertisers fleeing—but then a strange sentence appeared: Even Rupert Murdoch, who ...

A BIZARRE back-and-forth in congressional hearings over whether Lurita Doan, the head of the General Services Administration, improperly politicised her work. (The GSA is meant to provide computers ...

Olly Jezek from the Czech Republic writes: Please could you explain how to use the subjunctive? E.g.: ‘It’s important that the lesson be funny.’ When should we use ‘be’ and why? Maria Goranova from ...

The subjunctive actually acts in several other baffling ways in addition to this deviant behavior, thus making its usage even more confusing to many people. To increase our confidence in using the ...