Reader’s question: If you start a sentence with ‘Someone recommends that’, what form does the following verb take? For example, ‘John recommends that Mary talk/talks to the supervisor.’
Answer: The correct usage is ‘John recommends that Mary talk to the supervisor’, but I am not sure that it matters much.
The reason the verb does not take an ‘s’ is because this construction is what is known as the mandatory subjunctive. The subjunctive is used with clauses that begin with that to express a demand, requirement, request or suggestion.
The subjunctive is not used much these days, but it still has a place in the language with sentences beginning with if, as if, as though. Its construction often uses the verbs were or would.
I wish I were you.
If I were a millionaire, …
If I were you, I would vote.
You can read more about the subjunctive at http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/verbs.htm#subjunctive
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