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In a scientific paper, I am using a phrase that is something like ‘the condition that all the numbers be positive’.

I was wondering what kind of construction this is (the ‘be’) and how it compares to ‘all the numbers are positive’.

My impression is that both are correct, but ‘be’ is perhaps more formal. Is that correct?

Manuel Eberl
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1 Answers1

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According to Grammarist (all the quotes in this answer come from this linked document),

... the subjunctive mood is used to explore conditional or imaginary situations.

There are several uses of the subjunctive mood, one of which is:

It’s used to make statements of necessity:
It’s essential that they be heard … [Alternet]

This is of the same construction as your first example. Your second example, "all the numbers are positive", is in the indicative mood.

Lawrence
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  • Ah, I see. I don't think I ever learnt about the subjunctive mood in English in school, and it's very difficult to search for it if you don't know that it is the subjunctive mood. Thanks. – Manuel Eberl Feb 11 '16 at 15:35