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I'm learning Portuguese at the moment and have come across the Impersonal Infinitive (tense, mood?). I'm told this doesn't exist in English, but I have a feeling it might!

Take the sentence

  • It's important he continue his studies.

That sounds right to me, even though "he" would normally be immediately followed by "continues". I'm not a grammar buff by any stretch, but as we'd use "continue" for every person (singular & plural) in that sentence and it's the infinitive, I'm just wondering if my hunch is correct; does the Impersonal Infinitive exist in English, and is this an example?

Edwin Ashworth
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Lorcán
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    It looks like the bare infinitive but it is a vestige of the subjunctive. You wouldn't say "we continue" uses the infinitive, would you, even though it looks the same? – TimR Feb 15 '24 at 12:43
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    Does this answer your question? "That... be" construction The 'that' is often omitted, as with your example. See also continuous infinitive or bare continuous infinitive in 'It is important that the focus of training courses be towards ...' ?. – Edwin Ashworth Feb 15 '24 at 12:53
  • The 'covert mandative' ('It's important that he continues his studies.' with the 'ought to' sense) and the 'periphrastic should construction' ('It's important that he should continue his studies.') are more usual in the UK, and totally acceptable except to hyperprescriptivists. But 'continue' is equally grammatical here. // 'Fred insists that she attends the lecture' is admittedly ambiguous, but so is 'Fred insists that they attend the lecture', so the periphrastic should construction should be used by all championing disambiguation, not the 'subjunctive mandative'. – Edwin Ashworth Feb 15 '24 at 13:10
  • @EdwinAshworth Unlike in America, where it is perceived as unlettered. – tchrist Feb 15 '24 at 14:10
  • @tchrist At what point across the Atlantic do Americans have to change to UK grammaticality? Do letters etc need censoring on their way to the States? – Edwin Ashworth Feb 15 '24 at 14:27
  • I think you are confusing grammar and translation. Not a good idea. What is called infinitivo impessoal is any infinitive that is not tensed. Swimming is good for you. Nadar faz bem à saúde. Vou ao Estados Unidos para estudar. I'm going to the US to study. See? There is no such thing as impersonal infinitive in English. It is a category of Portuguese grammar, not English. No, it is not an example of it. – Lambie Feb 15 '24 at 15:40
  • It's called the 'subjunctive'. "It's important (that) he continue his studies" is a subjunctive construction, while "It's important (that) he continues his studies" is a non-subjunctive extraposed construction. Notice in the first example the plain (infinitive) form "continue", and the 3rd sing present tense "continues" in the second. Incidentally, the infinitive is non-finite and thus not a tense. – BillJ Feb 15 '24 at 16:06

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