The iffiness of the subjunctive

Q: I have noticed the absence of the subjunctive in lines from recent shows and movies. Have you? A: The English subjunctive has been gradually disappearing since Anglo-Saxon days, with ups and downs along the way, but it hasn’t disappeared yet. In fact, it’s quite easy to find recent examples from Broadway to Hollywood. Here are two that use “were” subjunctively to express hypothetical situations. In the current Broadway comedy Oh, Mary!, Abe Lincoln is shocked that his wife wants to become a cabaret star: “How would it look if the First Lady of the United States were to do a cabaret act while the country is at war?!” Her response: “Sensational!” And in the 2026 Hollywood comedy thriller They Will Kill You, the character Asia Reaves delivers this warning line to the leader of a satanic cult: “If I were you, I’d clear out.” In Old English (spoken from roughly 450 to 1150), the subjunctive mood had distinct verb endings. It expressed wishes, requests, possibilities, doubts, and…