KEY POINTS: Potential Subjunctive
- expresses a possible or conceivable action or judgment, not a statement of fact
- often corresponds in english to might, could, would, should, or may, typically expressing opinion or hypothetical assessment
Tense usage
[i] Present
subjunctive
expresses present
or future potential: what might be thought, said, or done now or at some
future moment.
[ii] Perfect
subjunctive
- expresses potential in much the same way as the present
- often little practical distinction between present and perfect subjunctive in potential uses
[iii] imperfect
subjunctive
- expresses hypothetical or unreal circumstances, often referring to an imagined situation rather than simple uncertainty about a past fact
- commonly translated with would or could, and may describe an imagined past experience, not an actual event
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