One of the most fascinating things about language is that we can use it so well, so expertly, without understanding how we do it. The following two sentences are perfect examples. If the burglar was ...

Grammatically, the subjunctive is a verb mood, not a verb tense. Most sentences use the indicative mood; the subjunctive in English has fairly restricted uses. Often, subjunctive forms don't look any ...

One of my favorite things about the subjunctive is that people who know nothing about it — who’ve never even heard the term — use it with great skill all the time. “In 2010, the Institute of Geriatric ...