The Subjunctive Mood and Politeness (Part II)

By: Sean Savoie

"Tone" is another word commonly used to express the feeling communicated in a person's voice or writing. Parents in America will often say to their children, "I do not like your tone of voice!" This sentence usually means that the parent does not like the sound of the child's voice; the child may be using sarcasm, or that child may be expressing another negative attitude signaled by the sound in his or her voice. However, in writing, the word "tone" can not be the sound of a person's voice; the tone is communicated in various amounts of strength, weakness, seriousness, humor, and other emotions. As one kind of tone, the subjunctive mood is an effective way to express a request or even a demand in English, but it is not a very effective form in some types of communication and in certain settings. (If you have not read part one of this article, please do so in the previous issue of the New York Community Times to better understand the content of this article.)

For the benefit of people who have not read the last issue of the New York Community Times, let us briefly review an excerpt from that last issue:

Slightly pushy and rude style: "You need to get a travel guide before going to that country."

A question expressing the same meaning: "Do you think getting a travel guide before going to that country is a good idea?"

Another question expressing this meaning: "Might getting a travel guide before going to that country help you?"

A direct statement using the subjunctive mood: "Getting a travel guide before going to that country might help you."

The subjunctive mood, because it expresses doubt, shows modesty and politeness, and in this way helps to create a gentle and friendly style of communication. But sometimes this friendly style simply does not work well. One practical example of this is business communication. Business people who do business with American companies that do not speak English as a first language are often confused because their polite and modest communication style does not produce strong business results. This is because business communication is more direct. When business communication is indirect, the style of the communication does not depend on the subjunctive mood; rather, the indirect style involves presenting positive information first, and then expressing negative or un-welcomed information later. For direct commands or requests, the simple use of the word "please" is preferred. Take a look at the two examples below:

Direct style: "Finish the report by five o'clock and have it on my desk before 5:15.

Subjunctive mood: "Do you think you could finish the report and have it on my desk before 5:15? If you could, it would really help me so much."

Remember again that the subjunctive mood creates a feeling of doubt. Now think: How could creating doubt benefit a business situation? In the two sentences above, the direct style is much clearer. The subjunctive mood seems to be welcoming a conversation and even a discussion about whether or not it is possible to finish the report before 5:15. An employee, in answer to a request in the subjunctive mood might reply, "Yes, I could finish the report by 5:15. Would you like me to do it?" And this is not a joke. The manager or supervisor or boss may simply want to know if it is possible, and he or she has not yet decided whether this is the best use of time. Business communication should be extremely direct and clear; therefore, the most effective style would be as follows:

Direct yet polite style: "Please finish the report by five o'clock and have it on my desk before 5:15."

Another place where the subjunctive mood is ineffective is in high school, college, or other academic writing. The direct style is more powerful, and so it has a stronger effect on the reader, which will usually produce higher grades. This stylistic difference is often, in my experience, a problem for young high school and college writers, especially young women, who tend to write in a more polite way and not push their ideas on the reader. This does not work. In academic writing, ideas must be expressed powerfully and the subjunctive mood almost always takes away the necessary power.

The thesis statement is the sentence in an academic essay that expresses the main idea, usually a strong opinion, which is the main point of the entire essay. Therefore this statement must have real strength, not a politely expressed doubt. Take a look at the following sentences and notice how their power decreases:

1) Citizens in the United States absolutely must retain the right to own guns.

2) Citizens in the United States must retain the right to own guns.

3) Citizens in the United States should retain the right to own guns.

4) Citizens in the United States might want to retain the right to own guns.

5) Maybe it is a good idea if citizens in the United States retain the right to own guns.

6) It is possible that, if citizens in the United States retain the right to own guns, this would be good.

7) Is it possible that, if citizens United States retained the right to own guns, this would maybe have a good effect?

Of course the most powerful sentence above is the first sentence, and even though more strength must come from evidence and support for this idea in the body of the essay, the tone that is created shows that the opinion is strong. Without this kind of powerful opinion, the reader will become uninterested in hearing what this "uncertain writer" is trying to express. After all, why read an essay written by a person if that person is unclear about his or her own opinion?

For now we will leave the topic of the subjunctive mood. In closing this article, I would sincerely like to thank Kevin and Jane Shih, who, through their hard work and dedication have now made the New York Community Times a tremendous success over the past five years. They have provided a voice for me to communicate with many readers, and for this I am forever grateful. Because the New York community times is dedicated to publishing positive news about topics ranging from business to arts and communication, it has been my great pleasure to be part of the team that helped to produce this publication. Congratulations and many thanks to all the people who have made the New York Community Times a fantastic success. And thanks also to the many readers and endorsers who have made this project possible. Have an excellent spring!