6.3 Subjunctive, Reported Speech, and Connectors

6.3 Subjunctive, Reported Speech, and Connectors

Quick Answer: After verbs like suggest/insist/require and phrases like it is essential that, use the base verb for every person (that he revise). Report past speech with backshift. Choose connectors by logic and by whether they take a clause or a noun phrase.

These three systems—subjunctive mood, reported speech, and cohesive connectors—signal advanced Grammar items on iTEP. They reward rule knowledge over “what sounds okay.”

Mandative subjunctive

The mandative subjunctive appears in that-clauses after verbs and adjectives of demand, recommendation, or necessity. The verb in the that-clause is the base form for all subjects—no third-person -s, no past tense, no will.

Trigger verbs (high frequency)

suggest, recommend, insist, demand, require, request, propose, urge, ask (when meaning request), order, advise

• The committee recommended that the syllabus include a methods workshop.
• Faculty require that every student submit original work.
• She insisted that the interview be recorded. (passive subjunctive)

Trigger adjectives and nouns

It is essential / important / necessary / vital / crucial / mandatory / recommended that…
There was a requirement / recommendation / demand that…

• It is essential that the abstract state the research question clearly.
• It is important that participants not receive the answer key early. (negative: not + base verb)

Forms to reject on the exam

British-influenced should (recommended that she should submit) sometimes appears in real English but is often the distractor when a pure base-form option is available on U.S.-style structure tests. Prefer the base form when both appear and the stem is mandative.

Subjunctive vs. indicative after suggest

• Mandative (proposal): She suggested that he apply early.
• Indicative (report of fact/idea): The evidence suggests that he applies the wrong model. (here suggests that ≈ “indicates that”; use normal agreement)

Context decides. If the matrix verb means “propose/demand,” use subjunctive; if it means “indicate,” use ordinary tense and agreement.

Were-subjunctive (hypothetical)

For unreal present/future after wish, if, as if, formal English uses were for all persons: If she were available, we would interview her. I wish the deadline were later. Informal was occurs in speech; many advanced items still prefer were.

Reported (indirect) speech and backshift

When the reporting verb is past (said, told, explained, claimed), verb tenses in the reported clause often shift one step back:

Examples:

• Direct: “I am analyzing the survey.”
  Reported: She said (that) she was analyzing the survey.
• Direct: “We have finished coding.”
  Reported: They reported that they had finished coding.
• Direct: “I will submit tomorrow.”
  Reported: He said he would submit the next day. (time words may also shift: tomorrow → the next day)

When backshift is optional or blocked

• Still-true facts: Galileo proved that the Earth orbits the Sun. (scientific present often stays)
• Reporting verb in present: She says she is ready. (no backshift required)
• Modals with no past form: should, could, might, ought to often stay the same.

Pronouns, time, and place shifts

I → he/she; we → they; here → there; now → then; today → that day; yesterday → the day before; tomorrow → the next day. Not every item tests all shifts, but a single inconsistent shift can be the error.

Tell vs. say

• say (that) + clause — She said that the model failed.
• tell + person + (that) + clause — She told the class that the model failed.
• ❌ She said the class that… / ❌ She told that… (missing object)

Questions become embedded word order (no auxiliary inversion): She asked where the files were (not where were the files). Yes/No questions use if/whether: He asked whether the IRB had approved the protocol.

Connectors and sentence cohesion

Connectors show logical relations. iTEP tests both the relation and the complement type (clause vs. noun phrase).

Concession

Trap: ❌ Despite the sample was small → ✅ Despite the sample’s size / Although the sample was small.

Cause and result

Purpose

• to / in order to / so as to + base verb: in order to reduce bias
• so that + clause (often with can/could/will/would): so that students can revise
• for + noun/gerund for function: for measuring air quality

Contrast and addition

• Contrast: but, yet, however, nevertheless, on the other hand, whereas, while
• Addition: and, also, in addition, furthermore, moreover
• Condition: if, unless, provided that, as long as (see conditionals chapter for full patterns)

However and therefore are adverbs; they need proper sentence punctuation (…; however,… or new sentence)—not Although…, however… piled without structure. On structure items, prefer clean single-connector logic.

Cohesion checklist for blanks

1. What logical relation does the sentence need (cause, contrast, concession, purpose)?
2. Does the connector require a clause or a noun phrase?
3. Does tense in a that-clause need subjunctive base form after a demand/recommendation trigger?
4. If speech is reported with a past reporting verb, did tenses backshift consistently?
5. Is word order embedded (statement order) for reported questions?

How iTEP frames these items

Fill-in-the-blank: Options may include submits / submit / submitted / would submit after require that. Only the base form satisfies mandative subjunctive. Connector blanks may offer although / despite / because / so that—match logic and complement type.

Error identification: Underlines may place indicative agreement in a mandative clause, skip backshift, invert a reported question, or attach despite to a full finite clause.

Practice by rewriting three direct quotes into reported speech and three recommendations into that + base-verb clauses every study session. Automatic form production beats last-second guessing under the ten-minute Grammar limit.