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Grammar question? "That"?
"The boss required that everyone work on his/her homework early."
I don't understand why it's not "works", since everyone is singular. Is it just a grammar rule, when you have "that" and a past tense verb ---so that the subordinate clause has a plural verb? Or is this even wrong?
2 Answers
- 1 decade agoFavorite Answer
It is the subjunctive tense of the verb 'to work'. It's used mainly in expressing hopes or wishes for others. For example: 'His mother wished he were more hardworking.'
'He were' is the subjunctive. There is a more defined subjunctive tense in languages like French and German, and less so in English, but we still have it.
If you still find it complicated to understand, just look up 'the subjunctive' on google. Should be explained simply :)
Source(s): Study of linguistics.
