I'm kind of puzzled as to the cases in which the subjunctive mood is supposed to be used. I believe the Subjunctive in English consists of these elements:
This seems fine and comprehensible, but these two quotations are what bothers me:
"The old subjunctive is disappearing as language usage becomes modified and simplified. Current business usage recognizes it only as a wish mood."
Does it mean that for example this sentence: "This mistake is but deepened by further emphasizing that "Master Plot" be a family film when in fact it was too long and occasionally sheer incomprehensible for child audiences to reliably follow." is wrong? It doesn't seem to express a wish, although it could be paraphrased as "should be / is supposed, believed to be a family film" or simply using the indicative form:"is a family film".
Also "Essentially, the subjunctive case or mood in the English language is used when something is desired but unattainable." makes me slightly confused once again. Does "I suggest he stay here." reffer to an unattainable wish? It's a wish for sure, yet not unattainable / unreal as it reffers to a future action, not an event of the past we couldn't influence anymore. Or is it?
When one thinks of subjunctive as of conjunctive in the other germanic languages, it becomes easier to comprehend and get accustomed to it. Yet there are few things which are unclear to me and effectively constrain me from using it freely in sentences, lest I use it erroneously (mostly in the case of the subjunctive form). I tried to summarize those unclarities in the paragraphs above. I hope you can help me make sense of all this.
- Subjunctive verb form (expressing a wish or urgent need -"I suggest he run...")
- Past tenses of verbs / also reffered to as the imperfect Subjunctive (expressing an unreal wish... or the fact that it's time to get things done -"It's time you paid the bills." but that has nothing to do with subjunctive, now does it?)
- Modal verbs (sometimes expressing the subjunctive mood"I suggest he should run...")
- End of the list?
This seems fine and comprehensible, but these two quotations are what bothers me:
"The old subjunctive is disappearing as language usage becomes modified and simplified. Current business usage recognizes it only as a wish mood."
Does it mean that for example this sentence: "This mistake is but deepened by further emphasizing that "Master Plot" be a family film when in fact it was too long and occasionally sheer incomprehensible for child audiences to reliably follow." is wrong? It doesn't seem to express a wish, although it could be paraphrased as "should be / is supposed, believed to be a family film" or simply using the indicative form:"is a family film".
Also "Essentially, the subjunctive case or mood in the English language is used when something is desired but unattainable." makes me slightly confused once again. Does "I suggest he stay here." reffer to an unattainable wish? It's a wish for sure, yet not unattainable / unreal as it reffers to a future action, not an event of the past we couldn't influence anymore. Or is it?
When one thinks of subjunctive as of conjunctive in the other germanic languages, it becomes easier to comprehend and get accustomed to it. Yet there are few things which are unclear to me and effectively constrain me from using it freely in sentences, lest I use it erroneously (mostly in the case of the subjunctive form). I tried to summarize those unclarities in the paragraphs above. I hope you can help me make sense of all this.
Good header for your post! 
See Subjunctive
[Note that some teachers, grammarians, and linguists, including some who reply to questions like yours on this forum, do not take the point of view you will get in the link above, which is a traditional view. They explain what is traditionally called "subjunctive" in completely different ways, even avoiding the word "subjunctive" wherever possible. As I understand their viewpoint (and I confess that it is not a very deep understanding of it), they believe that the subjunctive is not necessary in learning English.]
CJ
See Subjunctive
[Note that some teachers, grammarians, and linguists, including some who reply to questions like yours on this forum, do not take the point of view you will get in the link above, which is a traditional view. They explain what is traditionally called "subjunctive" in completely different ways, even avoiding the word "subjunctive" wherever possible. As I understand their viewpoint (and I confess that it is not a very deep understanding of it), they believe that the subjunctive is not necessary in learning English.]
WitikoThis mistake is but deepened by further emphasizing that "Master Plot" be a family film when in fact it was too longTo my ear, this is a strange use of the subjunctive. Maybe further context makes it clearer why the subjunctive was used. Emphasizing that "Master Plot" be a family film seems to me to be something that happens before the film is made. This time sequence seems to contradict the rest of the sentence.
Witikoused when something is desired but unattainable.This description makes no sense. It's just 'word salad'. If I were you, I'd ignore it.
CJ
Comments
This has been quite insightful. Should I face any other subjunctive-related problems, I'll surely extend this or the aforementioned topic.
CJ
Lets see:
I wish I had been born a cat. - To my ears sounds like past perfect subjunctive expressing an unreal past wish.
I wish I were a crocodile. - Sounds like past subjunctive expressing an unreal present wish.
I wish he would stop shouting! - Sounds like a sentence with present subjunctive meaning?
The question is: Could I possibly replace the would-construction, which in my opinion just periphrases a subjunctive construction, with I wish that he stop shouting! ?
That would help me make sense of wish clauses without having to memorize it as a set of rules carved in stone.
"wish" has a unique grammar. It's an untamable wild animal!
For more on "wish" see Wish... and follow the links given there as well.
CJ
Alright, but the original sentence with that would-construction does express the idea of subjunctiveness, right? As well as should sometimes does.
would is 'never' an indicator of the subjunctive, and yet it has the feel of a subjunctive here. would is correct in many wish statements. Does it really matter what you call it?
CJ
Statives:
I wish he were ... / I wish he knew ... / I wish he had ...
I wish he had been ... / I wish he had known ... / I wish he had had ...
Others:
I wish he would stop ... / I wish he would go ... / I wish he would say ...
I wish he had stopped ... / I wish he had gone ... / I wish he had said ...
CJ