Subjunctive Watch

"I like my verbs the way I like my lovers: bare and subordinated."

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Opinion | My Mother Died of the Coronavirus. It’s Time She Be Counted.

Not having an accurate, honest, nationwide way to tally Covid-19 cases will only add to the current tragedy.

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How critical is it that the opioid-induced ventilatory depression or sedation dissipate quickly...

There’s also an unfortunate missed opportunity in the preceding paragraph, with the infinitival construction:

Thus, rational selection of one opioid µ-agonist over another requires the clinician to identify...

versus the possible:

...requires that the clinician identify...

Found in: Basics of Anesthesia, Seventh Edition. Manuel C. Pardo, Ronald D. Miller. 2018. Page 135.

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“My prayer is that he [Clinton] resign now and save our nation the further embarrassment of an inevitable impeachment,” wrote one reader in the following days.

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“Though the law itself be fair on its face...”

Another analogy to “bien que ... +[subjunctive].” Granted, I don’t think I’ll be slipping this one into casual conversation anytime soon, it’s still a superb example.

Found in: The New Jim Crow. Michelle Alexander. 2010. Kindle edition.

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As his doctor, I’m advising that he take a break.

Season one: Episode 8. “Trajectory.”  ≈33 minutes

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Democrats Demand Rex Tillerson Explain Why He’s Not Spending Money to Stop Russian Meddling

$120 million was given to State to counter election meddling. Not a dime has been spent. Now, lawmakers want answers.

In the title.

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Office of Special Counsel: Conway violated Hatch Act

The US Office of Special Counsel said White House aide Kellyanne Conway violated the Hatch Act in two interviews related to year's Alabama special election

“Kellyanne Conway did not advocate for or against the election of any particular candidate," Gidley said. "She simply expressed the President's obvious position that he have people in the House and Senate who support his agenda.”

This is an interesting example because the meaning of the sentence hinges so critically on the mood of “have.” If the word instead appeared in the indicative, the President’s position would clearly be that the eventuality of “having people who support his agenda” had already come about. Rather, the speaker’s orientation towards the subordinated proposition is optative, or in the very least epistemically agnostic. It may also afford a flavor of dubitative modality to those so inclined...

Point is: you really need the subjunctive here, lest the sentence convey a totally different meaning. This isn't an example like

It's necessary that he {has/have} people who support his agenda

Wherein other conditions obviate the need for modal precision in the subordinated verb.

I guess this situation could be managed periphrastically with something like

She simply expressed the President’s obvious opinion that he should have people...

but why use two words where one one badass subjunctive would suffice?

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Comrade Pillai was keen that they be seen waiting outside his house for their appointment with him.

“Keen that... +[subjunctive].” Wow, that’s a new one!

Found in: The God of Small Things. Arundhati Roy. 1996. Kindle edition.

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He is adamant that he be admitted, however, he refuses all blood work and imaging studies.

Found in: Master the Boards Step 3, fourth edition. Conrad Fischer, MD. 2017. Page 558.

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But now I understand the gravity of what I was proposing—that a four-year-old child be watchful, prudent, and shrewd, that I curtail your happiness, and that you submit to a loss of time.

Found in: Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates. 2015. Page 92.

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Labour joins 9/11 survivors in demanding Theresa May release suppressed Saudi Arabia terrorism report

Britain’s Labour Party has thrown its weight behind demands from US 9/11 survivors for Prime Minister Theresa May to release a suppressed report into the extent of Saudi Arabia’s financing of Islamic extremism within the UK.

In the title.

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Trump Wants It Known: Grading 100 Days Is ‘Ridiculous’ (but His Were the Best)

Though he has called it “an artificial barrier” and a “ridiculous standard,” President Trump is deeply anxious that he be judged a success after 100 days.

It may not be meaningful, but Mr. Trump has invested quite a lot of meaning in the 100-day grading period, deeply anxious that he be judged a success at this early stage.

An indicative might have been fine (especially in the absence of the usual triggering elements for subjunctive), but the subjunctive really hangs a cloud of uncertainty over the clause.

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Bernie Sanders on Jon Ossoff: It’s ‘imperative’ he be elected | Political Insider blog

After making some puzzling remarks on Democrat Jon Ossoff, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders gave him his full-throated endorsement on Friday. "Let me be very clear. It is imperative that Jon Ossoff be elected congressman from Georgia's 6th District and that Democrats take back the U.S. House," said Sanders, a one-time presidential candidate, in a statement. "I applaud the energy and grassroots activism...

“Let me be very clear. It is imperative that Jon Ossoff be elected congressman from Georgia’s 6th District and that Democrats take back the U.S. House,”

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It was my aunt’s idea, back when she was sister Croetine, that an order of desert nuns be formed that would both honor St. Pachomius and give the Roman Church at least a token presence in the region.

Found in: Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates, Tom Robbins. 2000. Page 255.

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The Democrats, when they incorrectly thought they were going to win, asked that the election night tabulation be accepted. Not so anymore!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)

November 27, 2016

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Ah, but St. Paul had decreed that women’s heads be covered in church “because of the angels.”

Another excellent example of where mood selection can be critical to the meaning of a sentence. If “be” were “are,” the women’s head coverage could be understood as a statement of fact on the part of St. Paul, rather than an injunction.

Found in: Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates, Tom Robbins. 2000. Page 180.

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US and Russia now in unpredictable confrontation

It's not a new Cold War. It's not even a deep chill. It's an outright conflict.

That came after talks on a Syria ceasefire broke down as US officials suggested Russia be investigated for war crimes in the besieged city of Aleppo.