Command Subjunctive

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chaitanya.mehrotra: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 184; Joined: Thu Nov 25, 2010 9:57 pmFollowed by: 5 members; Thanked: 1 times; GMAT Score:700

by chaitanya.mehrotra » Fri Jul 08, 2011 1:38 pm

As Per man SC below is a example of usage of Command Subjunctive after Whether.

I like ice cream , WHETHER it BE chocalate , Vanilla or any other favour.

Where is the command subjunctive ? Which is the bossy verb out here ?

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Fri Jul 08, 2011 1:38 pm

Ashley@VeritasPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 199; Joined: Tue May 17, 2011 6:06 amFollowed by: 121 members; Location: Cambridge, MA; Thanked: 192 times; GMAT Score:780

by Ashley@VeritasPrep » Fri Jul 08, 2011 7:22 pm

I like that -- bossy verb

I wouldn't consider this a "command subjunctive"... but "command subjunctive" is just a term made up to help you remember that one of the structures that requires subjunctive is a command ("The prof demanded that we be in our seats by 8:00, for example"). The important takeaway is just that you need subjunctive 'be' in the ice cream sentence, as opposed to the indicative 'is.'

(However, subjunctive in "whether"-type constructions is actually often considered archaic nowadays, and I'd be very surprised if the GMAT forced you to make a choice as to whether to use it in these types of constructions.)

Ashley Newman-Owens
GMAT Instructor
Veritas Prep

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