Timeline for Subjunctive Mood/Mode Question
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
12 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 15, 2018 at 22:49 | answer | added | Steven Venti | timeline score: 1 | |
| Apr 15, 2018 at 20:53 | history | bumped | CommunityBot | This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed. | |
| Mar 25, 2018 at 14:15 | comment | added | Ubi.B | @BillJ internet is filled with 'were' clause denoting subjunctive form. I still don't understand the use of it. I understanding on this topic is same as that of Nigel | |
| Mar 16, 2018 at 20:42 | answer | added | Brad Dittmer | timeline score: 0 | |
| Mar 16, 2018 at 20:28 | comment | added | John Lawler | Indeed it is entirely sensible and logical. It just isn't standard, that's all. | |
| Mar 16, 2018 at 18:18 | comment | added | BillJ | Indeed it is based on CGEL, and I'm fully aware of their approach to the subjunctive. I think we have to adopt a grammar and adhere to it, and since CGEL is currently the best grammar available today, it makes good sense to promote its claims. I endorse H&P's claim that the infinitive is not a verb form (English of course does not have an infinitival form of the verb like, say, French, does) but a clause type based on the plain form of the verb, as are infinitival and imperative clauses. That is an entirely sensible and logical approach. | |
| Mar 16, 2018 at 14:09 | comment | added | John Lawler | That's the CGEL terminology. They use "subjunctive" strictly for what's often called "the present subjunctive", based on the infinitive, which is the present stem in most cases; it's a construction limited to subordinate clauses and governed by specific predicates. The so-called "past subjunctive" is the one that CGEL calls "irrealis". Both are relics of past English inflections, which are still there, and both still subjunctive, in German. That's why talking about "subjunctive" is confusing; there are too many ways to use the term, which is marginal at best in English. | |
| Mar 16, 2018 at 13:28 | comment | added | BillJ | No, Nigel, the subjunctive is a clause type that uses a plain form verb, just as imperatives and infinitivals do. "Were" clauses are not subjunctives, but a special mood form called 'irrealis', an untidy relic from an earlier system. Semantically, subjunctives invoke compliance, as in the two examples I gave. | |
| Mar 16, 2018 at 13:17 | comment | added | Nigel J | 'The subjunctive is a specific verb form. It usually expresses something that you wish for, or a hypothetical rather than actual situation: If only I were ten years younger.'ODO. | |
| Mar 16, 2018 at 11:56 | comment | added | BillJ | No, 'subjunctive' is a clause type distinguished by the use of a plain form verb, e.g. "It is vital [that I be kept informed]"; "I insisted [that he meet her]". Semantically, subjunctives are characterised by invoking the concept of compliance. In the first example, compliance is said to be vital, and in the second I insisted on compliance. | |
| Mar 16, 2018 at 11:44 | review | First posts | |||
| Mar 16, 2018 at 12:31 | |||||
| Mar 16, 2018 at 11:40 | history | asked | msmatters | CC BY-SA 3.0 |