the subjunctive also lets us say sparingly whether something that hasn’t happened is possible, desirable, necessary or real. Modal verbs do this as well, but the subjunctive calls up this alternative reality with elegant brevity, without always needing an auxiliary verb or a relative clause. The word lest is sometimes thought fussy, but lest he get upset is less fussy than so that he doesn’t get upset. The subjunctive adds a layer of conjecture to a sentence without weighing it down. It makes the possible seem plausible. Too many modal coulds and mights leave writing sounding fuzzy. The
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