In the sentence ‘The hiring committee recommended that all candidates be familiar with the company’s mission statement’, the verb ‘be’ appears after the word ‘that’. This construction is related to a grammatical rule in English called the ‘subjunctive mood’, which is used to express demands, suggestions, or recommendations.
Understanding the Subjunctive Mood
The subjunctive mood is used in clauses that follow verbs expressing necessity, demand, or suggestion. In this case, ‘recommended’ is such a verb. When using the subjunctive mood, the verb in the clause (in this case, ‘be’) is not conjugated for tense, and it remains in its base form, regardless of the subject.
Why ‘Be’ is Used in This Sentence
In this context, the verb ‘be’ is used because the sentence expresses a recommendation, which falls under the category of ‘suggestion’ or ‘necessity’. In English, after verbs like ‘recommend’, ‘suggest’, or ‘insist’, we use the base form of the verb in the clause that follows. Thus, ‘be’ is the correct form, not ‘is’ or ‘are’.
Examples of Subjunctive Mood in English
Other examples of the subjunctive mood include sentences like:
- ‘It is essential that she be here on time.’
- ‘They insisted that he take the test.’
- ‘I suggest that you be more careful.’
In each of these examples, the verb after the ‘that’ clause stays in its base form, just like in the original sentence with ‘be’.
Conclusion
The reason the verb ‘be’ is used in the sentence ‘The hiring committee recommended that all candidates be familiar with the company’s mission statement’ is because the verb ‘recommend’ triggers the subjunctive mood. This results in the use of the base form of the verb ‘be’ instead of the conjugated forms ‘is’ or ‘are’. Understanding the subjunctive mood is essential for correctly forming these types of sentences in English.
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