For those interested in the subjunctive, here's a brief exchange about a
specific usage.  While I prefer the bare form of the verb in this
sentence, I wonder if the client might have been influenced in part by
the subject "everything."

Herb

-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Benjamin Lukoff
Sent: 2008-03-19 04:41
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Subjunctive(?): not critical that

---------------------- Information from the mail header
-----------------------
Sender:       American Dialect Society <[log in to unmask]>
Poster:       Benjamin Lukoff <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      Re: Subjunctive(?): not critical that
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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On Wed, 19 Mar 2008, Benjamin Barrett wrote:

> I recently wrote a sentence, which said in part, "it's not critical
> that everything *tie* together."
>
> My client wants to know if it should be "ties."
>
> Is this a case of the fading subjunctive (in which case either is
> okay), or is there something else going on here?

"Tie" sounds fine to me here. It is the subjunctive, no?

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