Hi Gary,
W. Somerset Maugham said, "The subjunctive mood is in its death throes, and the best thing to do is to put it out of its misery as soon as possible."
I personally love it, but I'm in my seventies. I don't think it or I can last much longer. It will take a lot of work to really learn it and few people bother to use it. It's used to describe things which are not true, using if clauses and swapping some verb forms around, like shall and will. Many people have quit using shall altogether, so you're in for a certain amount of frustration if you expect to recognize it in everyday conversation.
On school bus trips we used to sing a song, "ninty-nine bottles of beer on the wall." (It had a nice rhythm.) "If one of those bottles should happen to fall," - - - - (That's subjunctive.)
When I couldn't see something which was "right under my nose," my mother used to say, "If it were a bear it would bite you," or "Were it a bear it would bite you." Indicative mood is the everyday speech we use to describe factual things. "It is a bear." "It was a bear."
Correct my grammar mistakes if there are any. Correct my grammar mistakes if any there be. A lover of the subjunctive would use the second version. Need I go on?
Use the search function to check out a few threads - if clauses, etc.
Regards, - A.