Subjective use of believe

I said: "I believe he know me." But that was marked wrong. The right answer should be: "I believe he knows me." But if I remember correctly about subjunctive structure, after verbs like hope, believe, we should use the infinitive form of the verb? Like; "I hope he win" instead of "I hope he wins". Can someone confirm that for me?

Solution 1:

None of believe, hope, or wish takes the present subjunctive in English. (Although wish takes the past subjunctive in constructions like I wish he were...) Currently, the present subjunctive is used for requests and demands (neither of which hope, believe, or wish is, although wish comes fairly close), and while it is widespread in American English, many speakers of British English never or rarely use it. For example:

I recommend that he study harder.

In the 19th century and earlier, the present subjunctive was used for hopes and wishes, and some frozen idioms persist from that time:

Long live the king.

The use of the past subjunctive in English is quite different, and it might help to think of them as two completely different pieces of grammar.