Sometimes you might write about things that aren’t certain, or that you imagine might happen. This is called the subjunctive or the subjunctive mood. If I were in charge, I’d make bedtime later. It's ...

Why is Christian Science in our name? Our name is about honesty. The Monitor is owned by The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and we’ve always been transparent about that. The church publishes the ...

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 ...

“If there were a Form 3, you would have already filled it out.” Reader Jessica had a question about a sentence like this. The speaker already knew about a Form 1 and a Form 2. The existence of Form 3, ...

After a full-dress review of the subjunctive in the preceding chapters, this form of the English language should no longer hold any terrors for us. With a clearer understanding of its uses and ...

The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language by Rodney Huddleston & Geoffrey K Pullum 1,860pp, Cambridge, £100 Carved on the west front of the cathedral at Chartres, Grammar, a stern dame, looms over ...

Phuc Tran grew up caught between two languages with opposing cultural perspectives: the indicative reality of Vietnamese and the power to image endless possibilities with English. In this personal ...