An Overview of the Subjunctive

The subjunctive mood can be very difficult to understand, even in Latin with its systematic approach to grammar. I try to unravel the mysteries of the subjunctive by comparing it to the other moods. It isn't the imperative (used for commands), nor the indicative (used for facts, or things close to facts). The subjunctive is used for untruths, possibilities, things that aren't quite real (or whose truth has yet to be determined). (Note that, while parts of this video do represent the subjunctive in English, I illustrate Latin uses of the subjunctive with English sentences, but I didn't want to address the Latin conjugation of verbs in the subjunctive mood. So there are some parts of this video where Latin uses the subjunctive, but English does not. Apologies.)