Sentence Correction

Ethan is unsure what to do tonight: his boss wants him to stay at the office, but his wife insists that he come home for dinner.

Is there a grammatical reason why I can't say, "...but his wife insists that he comeS home for dinner"? HE is singular, so shouldn't come (the verb) be singular too by adding an S at the end?

Thanks.

thp510 wrote:Ethan is unsure what to do tonight: his boss wants him to stay at the office, but his wife insists that he come home for dinner.

Is there a grammatical reason why I can't say, "...but his wife insists that he comeS home for dinner"? HE is singular, so shouldn't come (the verb) be singular too by adding an S at the end?

Thanks.

The verb come is in the subjunctive mood, which is used for actions and states of being that are contrary-to-fact or hypothetical.

As much as the wife insists, there is no guarantee that Ethan will come home for dinner. Thus, what she is insisting is hypothetical: she wants Ethan to come home for dinner, but he might not. Hence, the verb come is in the subjunctive mood to reflect that what the wife insists -- that Ethan come home for dinner -- might not happen.

The construction is as follows:

(A verb such as insist, demand, recommend, etc.) + that...+ (the infinitive form of the action that is being demanded, without the word to)

Examples:

The wife insists that Ethan come home for dinner.
The government demands that its citizen pay taxes.
The doctor recommends that Mary eat vegetables every day.

In the examples above, the verbs to come, to pay, and to eat are in the infinitive form without the word to.

Hope this helps!

GMATGuruNY wrote:
(A verb such as insist, demand, recommend, etc.) + that...+ (the infinitive form of the action that is being demanded, without the word to)

You can remember these kind of verbs as bossy verbs.

Great explanation and help! Thank you both.