gordonf35 wrote:
Hi,
I saw the following from
Manhattan GMAT SC book:
They demanded that the store be closed.Could anyone identify the sentence structure of the above?
I suspect "be close" is a passive voice. What does it actually mean? I suspect it means they are demanding the store should be closed by someone. Is the word "be close" a verb or a phrase? To be honest, I have lived in the UK for more than 10 years but I haven't heard or seen someone use the above structure in conversation or email. Is it commonly used in the States?
More examples below, which makes me even more confused. They seem to have their own sentence structure:
The Agency required that Gary be ready before noon. We propose that the school board disband. - Where is "be"
We require that he be here. - Should we treat "be" equals to "is"?
His demand that he be paid full severance was not met. - ???? totally confused
Many thanks for your help! I will give out Kudo for sure!
Gordon
Dear Gordon,
I'm happy to help.
The "
be closed" in that sentence is passive but it is also in the
subjunctive, which sounds odd even to native speakers, because even most native English speakers don't understand the subjunctive and don't use it correctly. See this blog:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/gmat-gramm ... ive-tense/You see, every verb has four qualities:
1)
tense2)
number (i.e. singular vs. plural)
3)
voice (i.e. active vs. passive)
4)
moodThere are three verb "moods"
a)
indicativeb)
imperativec)
subjunctiveMost language, ordinary factual statements, are in the
indicative. Anything purely descriptive is in the indicative. Most of the sentence in newspapers and most of the sentences in the GMAT Verbal section are in the indicative. This is such a default state that people don't even know that it's there.
The imperative is used purely for giving commands:
Come here! Go there! Sit down! Buy this! Don't be late! When the verb is used in the command form, without a subject, this is the imperative form. This form appears frequently in advertising. The imperative is not going to appear on the GMAT SC.
Those two count for 99% of the sentences in every day life. A tiny fraction are in the subjunctive. The subjunctive mood is used for wishes, hypotheses, contrary-to-fact statements, and it appears in "
lest" clauses and in the "
that" clause of certain "bossy" verbs. Here are some sentence involving the subjunctive.
May the Force be with you.
If I were President, I would veto that bill.
He should pay the bill now, lest he owe a fine later.
If I had dropped out of high school, I wouldn't be a GMAT expert now.
If I were to tell her about that incident, she probably would be embarrassed.The form for the present subjunctive is simply the infinitive of the verb, with no modification for singular or plural. For many verbs, the plural present tense is the same as the subjunctive, so the subjunctive would not look any different from the ordinary indicative. The difference is most pronounced with the verb "
to be", because the infinitive form ("
be") is very different from any of the present tense forms.
Present indicative:
he is, they arePresent subjunctive:
he be, they beThe sentences you quote:
The Agency required that Gary be ready before noon.With this bossy verb, "
required", inside the "
that" clause we need the subjunctive.
Factual statement (indicative): "
Gary is ready Command in subjunctive: "
that Gary be ready."
We propose that the school board disband. The verb "
to disband" means to break up, to go separate ways. This verb is used predominately in the passive, and what's a bit unusual is that this sentence uses in the active voice. Another bossy verb, "
propose", with a "
that" clause, so this also requires the subjunctive.
Factual statements (indicative): "
The school board disbands" or "
The school board is disbanding."
Subjunctive, active "
that the school board disband."
Factual statement (indicative passive): "
the school board is disbanded."
Subjunctive, passive "
that the school board be disbanded."
In the active formulation, we are proposing that the folks on the school board active break up the school board: as a group, they themselves decide to disband. Taht would be very different from a passive formulation, in which some other authoritative figure would come in and break up the school board, possibly against their wills.
We require that he be here[/color
Another bossy verb with a "[color=#0000ff]that" clause.
Factual statement (indicative): "
he is here."
Subjunctive: "
that he be here."
His demand that he be paid full severance was not met.
This one is tricky. The overall independent clause is in the indicative: "
His demand was not met." The noun "
demand" is modified by a relative clause beginning with the word "
that," and inside this subordinate clause, the verb is subjunctive.
Indicative statements, various tenses, all factual statements:
He is paid in full.
He was paid in full.
He has been paid in full. Here, the contents of the "
that" statement have a contrary-to-fact feeling, which also justifies the use of the subjunctive. In point of fact, he has NOT been paid, so his demand was for something that, so far, has not materialized in the real world. The subjunctive is required for the "
that" clause, but it also emphasizes that hasn't-happened aspect.
You will not hear the subjunctive used correct in ordinary conversation. You will not see it in email. Most native English speakers butcher it and do not speak it correctly at all. You have to do very high brow sophisticated reading to see the subjunctive used properly.
Does all this make sense?
Mike
close
06 Sep 2014, 15:13
