This winds up our discussion of the subjunctive mood. This essay, which first appeared in my weekly column "English Plain and Simple" in The Manila Times, subsequently became Chapter 79 of my book ...

The present subjunctive tense is used to express doubt, possibility, requests, and after verbs of emotion. It is also used after certain phrases like 'cuando' and 'para que'.

Justin Bieber needs to think about his use of the subjunctive mood. An 11-year-old U.K. student wrote a very critical note to Bieber about a grammar issue in his 2012 song "Boyfriend." In the song ...