The subjunctive mood in subordinate clauses and the connotation of “possibility”

The use of the subjunctive mood in subordinate clauses is often associated with the expres- sion of functions such as “purpose”, “request”, “obligation”, or “necessity”. However, it is essential to note that the subjunctive as such does not express those functions, as it often alternates with the infinitive form in this context.

As shown with the example in (16a), the subjunctive mood in subordinate clauses implies a connotation of “possibility”, the action of the subordinate clause being viewed as “pos- sible”, but not “certain”. In contrast, subordinate clauses with an indicative mood verb or an infinitive verb constitute “factual statements”. As shown in (16b), the subject of an indicative mood verb is necessarily specified, while the subject of an infinitive verb is by definition unspecified (16c).

Accordingly, the example in (16a) suggests that there is a chance that the action of the subordinate verb will be performed, while (16b) suggests that it actually is being performed (see alternation between “help” and “helps” in the English glosses). In addition, the example in (16c) states the action of the subordinate verb as a fact, with no particular connotation (see notion of “factual statement”). You will observe that the subordinate conjunction kwamba/kuwa “that” is obligatory with “indirect clauses” in the indicative mood, as in (16b).

(16) a. Ni muhimu mtu fulani asaidie watoto

“It is important that someone help the children” b. Ni muhimu kwamba mtu fulani anasaidia watoto “It is important that someone helps the children”

c. Ni muhimu kusaidia watoto “It is important to help children”

88 Imperative and subjunctive moods

As shown in (17), subjunctive mood verbs may be used after main clause verbs in dif- ferent tenses, while subordinate clause verbs in the present tense of the indicative mood are only used after a verb in similar tense/mood, as seen in (16b). You will observe that English generally makes a similar use of the subjunctive mood in this context, as shown by the absence of an “s” of the third person in the glosses (17a–b).

(17) a. Ilikuwa muhimu aamue mapema “It was important that he decide early.” b. Itakuwa muhimu avichukue “It will be important that he take them” While the alternation between the subjunctive and the indicative mood in subordinate clauses is relatively limited in Swahili, the alternation between the subjunctive and the infinitive verb is quite common, especially when the subject of the main clause is the same as the subject of the subordinate clause or the implicit subject of the infinitive verb.

The examples in (18–20) illustrate the alternation between the subjunctive verb and the infinitive form in subordinate clauses involving the notion of “purpose”, while those in (21–22) show the exclusive use of the subjunctive form in the subordinate clauses involv- ing a subject that is different from the subject of the main clause. To express the notion of “purpose”, the conjunction ili “in order to; so” is optional with subjunctive verbs, whereas it generally is obligatory before an infinitive verb, as shown respectively in (18a, 19a, 20a; 21–22) and (19b–20b). However, it is also optional before an infinitive verb following a main verb meaning “go to/come to”, as in (18b–c).

(18) a. Ninaenda mjini (ili) nimwone kaka yake “I am going to town so I may see his brother”

b. Ninaenda mjini (ili) kumwona kaka yake

“I am going to town (in order to) to see his brother” c. Nimekuja mjini (ili) kumwona kaka yake

“I have come to town (in order to) to see his brother” (19) a. Mariam alifanya haraka (ili) afike mapema

“Mariam hurried up so she might arrive early” b. Mariam alifanya haraka ili kufika mapema “Mariam hurried up in order to arrive early” (20) a. Fanya haraka (ili) usichelewe darasani “Hurry up, so you may not be late to class”

b. Fanya haraka ili kutochelewa darasani “Hurry up, in order not be late to class” vs.

(21) Nitakupa karatasi (ili) uandike barua

“I will give you a paper so you may write a letter” (22) Chemsha maji (ili) tupike ugali

“Boil some water so we may cook stiff porridge”

The subjunctive also alternates with the infinitive in subordinate clauses/phrases of “request” that typically follow main verbs such as -penda “like”, -taka “want/wish”, -omba

Imperative and subjunctive moods 89 “ask (for)”, -amuru “order”, -pendekeza “recommend”, -ambia “tell”, -shauri “advise”, or -sisitiza “insist”. In this context also, the subjunctive implies a connotation of “possibility”, as in the a.–b. series in (23–25), while the infinitive constitutes a “factual statement”, which just states facts, as shown with the c. series in (23–25).

(23) a. Ninataka usome hapa “I want you to read here”

(lit. “I want that you read here”)

b. Ninataka nisome hapa “I wish that I may read here” c. Ninataka kusoma hapa “I want to read here”

(24) a. Ungependa tusome au tusisome? “Would you like us to read or not?”

(lit. “Would you like that we read or not?”)

b. Ungependa usome au usisome? “Would you like a chance to read or not?” c. Ungependa kusoma au kutosoma? “Would you like to read or not?” (25) a. Aliamuru niondoke/nisiondoke “He ordered that I would (not) leave”

b. Aliniamuru niondoke/nisiondoke “He ordered me that I would (not) leave” c. Aliniamuru kuondoka/kutoondoka “He ordered me to (not) leave”

As observed with the glosses in (23a, 24a), after a verb expressing “desire”, the implicit subject of the subordinate clause appears as the object of the main clause in English. Accordingly, clauses such as “I want you to read” correspond to a literal translation of “I want that you read”. The prefix -nge- in (24) corresponds to the expression “would” (the conditional mood is described in Language note 17).

The subjunctive/infinitive alternation is also observed after impersonal main clauses that express the notions of “necessity/obligation” and “preference”. This is typically the case with impersonal clauses that use nouns like lazima ~ sharti “(it is) a necessity/an obligation (that)” or “(it is) necessary/obligatory (that)”; adjectives like muhimu “(it is) important (that)”, afadhali ~ heri “(it is) preferable (that)”, and bora “(it is) better (that)”; and adverbs like vizuri “(it is) good (that)”. These impersonal clauses also may use verbs like kubidi ~ kupasa ~ kulazimu “to be obligatory/must”, and kufaa “to be beneficial”, which gives inabidi ~ yabidi “it is obligatory/necessary (that), must”, and inafaa ~ yafaa “it is beneficial (that)” (from i-na-bidi vs. i-a-bidi; i-na-faa vs. i-a-faa; with i-: impersonal “it”; contracted forms that use -a- instead of -na- in the present tense are informal).

As shown in (26–30), the infinitive verb in the subordinate clause of impersonal con- structions states facts with no particular connotation (see series in a.), while the verb in the subjunctive mood expresses the connotation of “possibility” (see series in b.).

(26) a. (Ni) bora kutomsumbua kijana huyu “It is better not to bother this young person”

b. (Ni) bora usimsumbue kijana huyu “You had better not bother this young person”

(27) a. (Ni) lazima kusoma kitabu hiki “It is necessary to read this book” b. (Ni) lazima kila mtu asome kitabu hiki “It is necessary that everyone read this

90 Imperative and subjunctive moods

(28) a. Inabidi/yabidi kuanza kazi mapema “It is necessary to start working early” b. Inabidi/yabidi tuanze kazi mapema “It is necessary that we start working

early/we must . . .”

(29) a. Inafaa/yafaa kusoma kila siku “It is beneficial to read every day” b. Inafaa/yafaa msome kila siku “It is beneficial that you read every day” (30) a. Itabidi/itapasa/italazimu kuondoka “It will be necessary to leave”

b. Itabidi/itapasa/italazimu tuondoke “It will be necessary that we leave” In this context, the (implicit) subject of the infinitive or subjunctive verb may optionally be used as the “object” of the verbs of “obligation”, that is, kubidi ~ kupasa ~ kulazimu “to be necessary; must” and kufaa “to be beneficial”. The two options are shown in (31a, 32a) and (31b, 32b) respectively. In addition, the verb kupasa may appear in passive form (kupaswa “be compelled”), as shown in (33).

(31) a. Inatubidi/inatupasa/inatulazimu kuondoka “It is necessary for us to leave”

b. Inatubidi/inatupasa/inatulazimu tuondoke “It is necessary (for us) that we leave” (32) a. Inanipasa/Imenipasa kuondoka

“It is/has been necessary for me to leave” b. Inanipasa/Imenipasa niondoke

“It is/has been necessary (for me) that I leave” (33) a. Ninapaswa/Nimepaswa kuondoka

“I am/I have been compelled to leave” b. Ninapaswa/Nimepaswa niondoke

lit. “I am/I have been compelled that I leave”

Depending on the meaning of the main verb, a subjunctive verb in the subordinate clause may also alternate with a verb in the indicative mood, the latter being a “factual statement” that just expresses facts. In addition to the example seen in (16), other cases of alternation between the subjunctive with the infinitive and/or the indicative are given (34–35). (34) a. Ni bora tuondoke sasa “It is better that we leave now”

b. Ni bora kwamba tunaondoka sasa “It is better that we are leaving now” c. Ni bora kuondoka sasa “It is better to leave now”

(35) a. Alisema nikusaidie “He said that I should help you” b. Alisema kwamba ninakusaidia “He said that I (actually) help you” As noted before, the conjunction kwamba/kuwa “that” is generally optional in the pre- sence of a verb in the subjunctive mood expressing an “indirect request”. On the other hand, the conjunction is omitted in other subordinate clauses involving a subjunctive verb, as seen in (26–33). It is also important to note that subjunctive verbs are not used alone to express polite requests implying an immediate response (see imperative form in English).

Imperative and subjunctive moods 91 In such contexts, modal verbs such as kutaka “to want”, kupenda “to like/wish” may be used to introduce the verb in the subjunctive mood, as seen in (23–24).

(36) Review exercise: subjunctive vs. infinitive or indicative in subordinate clauses: fill in the column “verb form” with the name of the appropriate form; translate the follow- ing sentences into Swahili.

Function of the

subordinate Verb form Target glosses (“in order to, so” = ili) Swahili a. Factual statement,

with unspecified subject

i. He wants me to write ii. It is necessary to write iii. It is important that he writes iv. It is important that he write v. It is necessary to not write vi. It is necessary that you don’t

write

vii. We wish that we may write viii. It is necessary that you write ix. We came in order to write x. We came in order to not write xi. We are leaving so we may

write

xii. He wants to write xiii. We wish that we may not

write i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. viii. ix. x. xi. xii. xiii. b. Connotation of “possibility” c. Factual statement, with specified subject