Subjunctive in Fixed Expressions
The English subjunctive mood often feels like a relic of the past, but it survives perfectly intact in several everyday idiomatic phrases. We use these fixed expressions to express hypothetical situations, concessions, or strong wishes without altering the verb for tense or subject agreement. For example, you might say, "If she wants to leave early, then so be it," or "Come what may, we will finish this project."
In this challenge, you will help a cast of dramatic characters—including a skeptical accountant, a stubborn knight, and a frustrated theater director—navigate these tricky idioms. You will practice correctly formulating and applying common subjunctive phrases such as far be it from me, be that as it may, suffice it to say, heaven forbid, and as it were.
You will work through 10 questions in a mix of single-choice, multi-choice, drop-down, and drag-and-drop formats to master these archaic but essential English phrases.
Try the quiz to check your knowledge!
Complete the detective's response to the prime suspect's rather creative alibi. Select the grammatically correct phrase.
"You claim you were abducted by aliens during the museum heist. ____, you still left your fingerprints on the display case."
The correct answer is Be that as it may.
"Be that as it may" is a fossilized expression using the present subjunctive ("be"). It functions as a concessive phrase, meaning "even if that is true" or "nevertheless." The other options do not grammatically exist in this fixed idiom.
The correct answers are: Come what may, I shall defeat this dragon before dinnertime! Far be it from me to tell a fire-breathing reptile how to behave, but it really shouldn't burn down villages. Suffice it to say, my armor is completely fireproof.
English retains the subjunctive mood in several fossilized, fixed expressions.
"Come what may" means "no matter what happens." The verb come is in the base subjunctive form.
"Far be it from me" is a polite (or sarcastic) way to introduce a criticism, using the subjunctive be.
"Suffice it to say" means "it is enough to say," using the subjunctive suffice.
Changing these verbs to indicative forms (like comes or is) makes the idioms grammatically incorrect!
Help the amateur chef summarize his disastrous attempt at making a five-tier wedding cake. Choose the correct phrase.
"I won't bore you with the tragic details of the collapsing frosting. ____ that we will be serving store-bought cupcakes instead."
The correct answer is Suffice it to say.
"Suffice it to say" is a fixed expression utilizing the subjunctive mood. It translates roughly to "let it be enough to say." Because it is a frozen subjunctive form, we do not conjugate the verb "suffice" with an -s or -ed ending.
The correct answers are: Be that as it may, I humbly request a 24-hour extension on my essay. I will write an extra ten pages tonight, if need be. If you decide to fail me, then so be it!
"Be that as it may" means "nevertheless" or "even if that is true."
"If need be" means "if it is necessary."
"So be it" expresses acceptance of a situation, even an undesirable one.
Because these are fixed expressions left over from older English, we cannot update their grammar to modern indicative forms like "as it is" or "if needs are." They must remain frozen in their subjunctive forms!
Help the skeptical office worker complete their dramatic message to a colleague.
I am not one to criticize the boss's ideas, so far be it from me to suggest his new marketing plan is completely ridiculous. However, come what may, I am bringing my own coffee to this three-hour meeting. I will even hide under the conference table during the presentation, if need be!
I am not one to criticize the boss's ideas, so far be it from me to suggest his new marketing plan is completely ridiculous.
"Far be it from me" is a fixed expression using the present subjunctive. It is used to express that you are not the appropriate person to do something (usually right before doing exactly that!).
However, come what may, I am bringing my own coffee to this three-hour meeting.
"Come what may" is a fossilized subjunctive phrase meaning "no matter what happens."
I will even hide under the conference table during the presentation, if need be!
"If need be" is an idiomatic subjunctive phrase meaning "if necessary."
The correct answers are: Heaven forbid they actually serve the soup at an appropriate temperature! The previous chef was a culinary anarchist, as it were. Perish the thought that I should ever return to this bistro!
"Heaven forbid" expresses a strong desire that something does not happen. Even though "Heaven" is singular, we use the base subjunctive forbid, not forbids.
"As it were" means "so to speak." It is a fixed unreal conditional phrase. It remains were even if the surrounding sentence is in the past tense—so "as it was" is incorrect here!
"Perish the thought" is a dramatic expression meaning "I hope that never happens." It uses the third-person imperative/subjunctive form of perish.
The correct answers are so be it, suffice it to say, and heaven forbid.
These are fossilized expressions in English that use the present subjunctive (the base form of the verb) rather than standard subject-verb agreement.
So be it means "I accept this outcome, even if it's negative." (Not so it is).
Suffice it to say means "it is enough to say." Because it's subjunctive, we use suffice rather than the indicative suffices, even though "it" is a singular third-person subject!
Heaven forbid is used to express a strong hope that something does not happen. Again, we use the base verb forbid, not forbids.
Help the skeptical accountant phrase her diplomatic (but brutal) feedback. Choose the correct expression to complete her thought.
"____ to criticize the CEO's plan to replace our office chairs with exercise balls, but I foresee a dramatic rise in workplace injuries."
The correct answer is Far be it from me.
The phrase "far be it from me" is a fixed idiomatic expression that uses the formulaic subjunctive ("be"). It is used to politely (and often ironically) introduce a criticism or disagreement, meaning "I am not the appropriate person to say this, but..."
The correct answers are be it from me, be that as it may, and come what may.
English preserves the present subjunctive (the base form of the verb) in several fixed, idiomatic expressions.
Far be it from me is a polite but often ironic way to say you shouldn't criticize someone, even though you are about to do just that!
Be that as it may means "even if that is true" or "nevertheless."
Come what may means "no matter what happens."
In all of these phrases, we use the base form of the verb (be, come) rather than the indicative forms (is, comes).
Complete the eccentric theater director's speech to the cast.
If the lead actor insists on wearing a giant chicken suit in the tragic finale, then so be it! We shall embrace the absurdity, as it were, and transform it into a modern masterpiece. We don't have the budget to rewrite the script, so suffice it to say, the chicken stays.
If the lead actor insists on wearing a giant chicken suit in the tragic finale, then so be it!
"So be it" uses the present subjunctive to express acceptance of a situation, even if it is not ideal.
We shall embrace the absurdity, as it were, and transform it into a modern masterpiece.
"As it were" uses the past subjunctive. It is a fixed expression meaning "in a way" or "so to speak," used to make a description sound less literal or definite.
We don't have the budget to rewrite the script, so suffice it to say, the chicken stays.
"Suffice it to say" is a fixed subjunctive idiom meaning "it is enough to say." The indicative form "suffices" is incorrect here.
Phrase
Phrase vs clause: a phrase has NO subject-verb pair (on the table, the old man). A clause HAS a subject-verb pair (the man sat, because she left). This is the fundamental structural division in grammar — clauses contain phrases, not the other way around.
A phrase = group of words functioning as one unit: noun phrase, verb phrase, prepositional phrase, adjective/adverb phrase. No subject + verb.
Diagnostic: does the word group have both a subject AND a verb? Yes → clause. No → phrase. Name the head word to identify the phrase type (noun = NP, preposition = PP, etc.).
Sentence
Sentence vs clause vs phrase: a phrase has no subject-verb pair. A clause has subject + verb. A sentence is one or more clauses packaged with end punctuation as a complete thought. These three levels — phrase ⊂ clause ⊂ sentence — are the structural hierarchy of English.
A sentence is the largest grammatical unit: one+ clauses ending with a period, question mark, or exclamation mark. Four structural types: simple, compound, complex, compound-complex.
Diagnostic: does it have at least one independent clause AND end punctuation? Yes → sentence. Missing independent clause? → fragment. Missing end punctuation? → run-on.
Subjunctive mood
Subjunctive vs indicative: indicative states facts (He goes every day). Subjunctive marks unreality (I suggest he go; If I were you). The subjunctive drops the -s and insists on were — signalling "this isn't (or may not be) real." In informal speech it's disappearing, but formal/academic writing still expects it.
The subjunctive mood = hypothetical/counterfactual marker. Present subjunctive (base form after suggest/demand/insist that). Past subjunctive (were in unreal conditionals).
Diagnostic: is the clause about something unreal, demanded, or recommended (not yet true)? → subjunctive. Is it factual? → indicative.
Verb
Verb vs noun vs adjective: nouns name things. Adjectives describe. Verbs express what happens or what IS. The test: can it take tense (walked, will walk)? Can it take -ing? Can it follow to as an infinitive (to walk)? Yes to any → verb. English often converts freely between classes (run = noun or verb), so context decides.
A verb = action/state/occurrence word. 5 forms (base, -s, past, past participle, -ing). Carries tense, aspect, mood, voice. The one required element in every sentence.
Diagnostic: does it change for tense (walk → walked)? Can you put to before it (to walk)? Does it take -ing (walking)? → verb.
Verb mood
Mood vs tense: tense tells you WHEN (past/present/future). Mood tells you the speaker's ATTITUDE (fact/command/hypothetical). She goes (indicative + present) vs Go! (imperative) vs I wish she went (subjunctive + past form but present meaning). Mood and tense work independently.
Verb mood = attitude marking. Indicative (facts), imperative (commands), subjunctive (unreal), conditional (dependent). Each uses different verb forms or auxiliaries.
Diagnostic: is the speaker stating a fact? → indicative. Commanding? → imperative. Imagining something unreal? → subjunctive. Expressing what would happen under a condition? → conditional.
Word order
English (SVO) vs other patterns: English relies on word ORDER to show who does what (Dog bites man ≠ Man bites dog). Inflected languages (Latin, Russian, German) use case endings and can scramble order freely. In English, changing order changes meaning or requires special constructions (inversion, cleft sentences).
Word order = how English marks grammatical relationships. SVO is the default; fixed adjective order; adverb placement varies by type.
Diagnostic: does your sentence sound "off" even though all word forms are correct? → probably a word order issue. Try moving the element back to default SVO position.
Idiom
Idiom vs collocation: both are fixed expressions, but idioms are opaque — the meaning is hidden (kick the bucket ≠ literally kicking). Collocations are transparent — the meaning is clear (heavy rain = a lot of rain). Collocations sound wrong if you swap words; idioms make no sense if you translate literally.
An idiom is a fixed phrase whose meaning can't be derived from its parts. They must be learned whole — and they're everywhere in casual and native English.
Diagnostic: does the literal meaning make sense? Yes → probably a collocation. No (absurd or unrelated) → idiom.
C1 | Advanced
C1 vs C2: C1 means fluent and flexible use with occasional gaps in very unfamiliar domains. C2 means native-like command of idiom, irony, and register across any subject. If you can handle advanced grammar but still miss cultural nuance or very rare idioms, you're C1.
C1 is the advanced CEFR level: inversion, cleft sentences, subjunctive mood, advanced conditionals, and precise register control in professional and academic contexts.
Diagnostic: can you write persuasively in different registers and catch subtle irony? Consistently → C2. Sometimes → C1.
Hard
Hard vs Medium: Medium tests one rule with realistic distractors. Hard tests interacting rules, edge cases, or context-dependent answers where multiple options seem correct until you think deeply. If you're scoring 80%+ on Medium, try Hard to find your real gaps.
The Hard tag filters for B2+ challenges with layered difficulty: rule interactions, subtle distractors, and contexts that demand genuine grammatical reasoning.
Diagnostic: if Hard questions feel impossible, drop to Medium and master the individual rules first. Hard assumes you already know each rule — it tests whether you can apply them together.