• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (The subjunctive: if I were, I wish it were, I suggest she be; Mixed conditionals: past cause, present result (and vice versa)). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. Is this sentence correct in formal written English? If I had saved my money, I would have had a new bike now. (correct / incorrect) → incorrectPrompt: Look for time words: now, today, yesterday, last week. Which half is past and which is present?
2. Choose the correct verb form for formal English. She talks as if she ___ the boss. (be / were / was / is) → werePrompt: Is it imaginary (if, wish, as if)? Or a demand/suggestion (insist, suggest, essential that…)?
3. Which sentence uses the subjunctive correctly? • The teacher asked that the class is quiet. • The teacher asked that the class was quiet. • The teacher asked that the class are quiet. • The teacher asked that the class be quiet. (The teacher asked that the class is quiet. / The teacher asked that the class was quiet. / The teacher asked that the class are quiet. / The teacher asked that the class be quiet.) → The teacher asked that the class be quiet.Prompt: Look for if, wish, as if, or a verb like ask/insist/suggest + that.

• Show a sentence with the grammar point used wrongly and ask what sounds odd.
• Share the objective: Advanced subjunctive: were it not for, lest, that she not be. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Choose the form that is correct in formal written English. ___ I known about the storm, I would have stayed at home.
• Step 1: Formal English keeps the subjunctive after verbs of demanding and suggesting, in inverted conditions (Were it not, Had I known, Should you need) and in fixed phrases.
• Step 2: Inverted third conditional: 'Had I known' = 'If I had known'.
• Step 3: Put it back into the sentence and read it aloud: "Had I known about the storm, I would have stayed at home."
• Step 4: So the answer is: Had
• Answer: Had
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. Choose the form that is correct in formal written English. The doctor recommended that he ___ sugar for a month. (avoids / avoiding / avoided / avoid) → avoidPrompt: Is this a demand or recommendation (that + base form), an unreal condition (were/had/should), or a fixed expression?
2. Is this sentence correct in formal written English? The committee proposed that every member submit a short report. (correct / incorrect) → correctPrompt: Is this a demand or recommendation (that + base form), an unreal condition (were/had/should), or a fixed expression?

• Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
• Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. Is this sentence correct in formal written English? The rules require that each team name at least one substitute. (correct / incorrect) → correctPrompt: Is this a demand or recommendation (that + base form), an unreal condition (were/had/should), or a fixed expression?
2. Choose the form that is correct in formal written English. ___ I known about the storm, I would have stayed at home. (Would / Did / Had / Have) → HadPrompt: Is this a demand or recommendation (that + base form), an unreal condition (were/had/should), or a fixed expression?

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-12.