-1

It is essential that your skin ____________ to its youthful condition.

A. restore

B. be restored

C. is restored

D. will restore

In my opinion, they all seem correct except for D.

Help.

Edward
  • 9

1 Answers1

1

A and D are saying that your skin will act, and presumably on something else. So if you do mean that it will restore itself, you would need to add the 'itself' explicitly. (Or specify something else.)

As for C, since it's in the present tense, it's not (AFAIK) the correct way to say it, but I think it is used that way. what I would use. However, see the comments for more information.

B seems the best.

ispiro
  • 309
  • Option A and D do not sound grammatical to me. They would need an object, which in this case should be itself. – Oliver Mason Jun 19 '18 at 13:15
  • 1
    The use of the instead of the indicative (C) instead of the 'subjunctive' here is idiomatic, especially in the UK, and said to be grammatical in CGEL and elsewhere. As has been said on ELU many times already. – Edwin Ashworth Jun 19 '18 at 14:25
  • @EdwinAshworth You seem like an expert (I am not). Do you have a link to somewhere where something like this is considered "correct"? (Or are we just using different terminology?) I'm used to considering this (an "error" that has become idiomatic) differently than a completely different meaning for words (e.g."a wild goose chase"). – ispiro Jun 19 '18 at 17:24
  • Shoe's answer here gives the overview. But CGEL recognises the acceptability of both the mandative subjunctive ('She insists that he take the eight o'clock train') and what they term the 'covert mandative' ('She insists that he takes the eight o'clock train', meaning 'She insists that he take the eight o'clock train', but identical to the non-mandative with the 'It's what he always does' meaning). Found on pp 995-6. // Apologies for the typo above. – Edwin Ashworth Jun 20 '18 at 14:53
  • @EdwinAshworth Thanks. I didn't know that it was as accepted as it seems it is. I now corrected my answer to reflect that. – ispiro Jun 20 '18 at 17:35
  • 'Is fine' is rather risky. I suspect that the examiners here, in spite of the overwhelming support for the acceptability of the choice of the 'covert mandative', will not accept the answer. There's no ultimate authority to override the opinionated in English. // This shows that what many see as a 'correct' answer will not be accepted by some, which hopefully makes ELU not the best place to ask questions about 'right answers in exams etc'. – Edwin Ashworth Jun 21 '18 at 16:57