The Subjunctive form: Let There Be Light

Out of the four basic forms of the verb in English the simplest is the Base form which is similar to the Infinitive form but without the particle TO. For example:   

To Eat (Infinitive)  -  Eat (Base)

The Base form has two primary functions:

The first is to serve as to give orders, e.g. : Listen to me! or Stay where you are!

The second is to serve as the Subjunctive form. The easy part here is forming the Subjunctive and the hard part is to know how to use the Subjunctive properly.

Use the Subjunctive after these verbs: to request, to suggest, to urge, to ask, to command, to demand, to desire, to insist, to propose, to recommend and a couple of others. Here are some examples:

The teacher advised Mark study harder in the future.

Bertha recommended John sleep long hours.

My Dad propose my Mom spend less money.

Expressions such as It is important, It is essential, and It is necessary are also followed by the Subjunctive., e.g.:

It is mandatory that she pay her fees immediately.

It is a bad idea that he return as soon as possible.

It is recommended that he be patient.

The expression which is the title of this article is another example of Subjunctive and shows how old this form really is.