Year 6 · SPaG · Autumn: Verbs and tenses
Year 6 using the subjunctive worksheet and PowerPoint
To use the subjunctive form correctly in sentences about wishes, imagined situations and formal demands.
Using the subjunctive
Use were (for every subject) after if, wish, as if, as though and suppose when the idea is not real. Use be or the plain verb after words like vital, essential, important, insist, demand, recommend followed by that.
| imagined | If she were here, she would help. / He looked as if he were ill. |
|---|---|
| formal demand | It is essential that the door be locked. / The rules require that visitors sign in. |
| not subjunctive | real facts use ordinary verbs: She was here yesterday. / He is ill. |
Examples
- I wish I were able to fly.
- We recommend that the report be finished by Friday.
Key words
- subjunctive
- a verb form for wishes, imagined situations and formal demands
- Standard English
- the form of English used in formal writing
- recommend
- to suggest strongly
- insist
- to demand firmly
What is on the worksheet
Every sheet for this lesson has a short teaching box and 12 questions that get gradually harder: 8 fluency questions, then 4 reasoning questions that ask pupils to explain or choose. A writing challenge follows. The questions use the same styles as the key stage 2 grammar and punctuation test (circle, underline, tick, fill the gap, add punctuation, rewrite, explain). They are written for this website, not copied from past papers.
All the answers are on the last page of the same editable Word file. New questions are made every time, so you can print a different sheet for every group or for homework. The same sheet code always gives the same sheet.
Writing challenge: Write a short set of rules for a school trip. Use at least three subjunctive verbs, for example 'It is vital that every pupil be on the coach by nine.'
Pupil target: I can use the subjunctive in formal sentences.
The PowerPoint
A 20-slide lesson deck for the same lesson: a starter that revisits earlier learning, key words, an I do and a You do question on each slide with a countdown timer, answers that appear one click at a time, and a challenge. Download the using the subjunctive PowerPoint.
Where this lesson fits
This is lesson 20 of 72 in the Year 6 SPaG scheme, in the Autumn term, block “Verbs and tenses”. It is taught before the SATs grammar test in May.
Other lessons in this block
- Present tense
- Past tense
- Keeping the tense the same
- Was and were in Standard English
- Recognising the subjunctive
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