3
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Reference for present perfect subjunctive
Generally, Americans (who nowadays use the subjunctive more than other English speakers) use the indicative with present perfect, even with constructions that require the subjunctive mood. Very ...
- 89.5k
3
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Does past tense soften tones?
As an American English speaker, I would definitely not use shall here. The context where I mainly see shall used are in technical standard documents, where it conveys an absolute requirement, not ...
- 4,587
2
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Subjunctive Sentences
No, those are wrong. The so-called "mandative subjunctive" never takes a past-tense inflection of the verb in Modern English. It always takes the bare infinitive. These are both mandative subjunctives,...
- 136k
1
vote
Grammaticality of: “A movement subsequently rose demanding that the King ‘was’(??!) removed as the head of the Church of England”
It was said that way because it was spoken by an Englishman for whom this is not considered ungrammatical. In America, what he said is not grammatical and would have to be be not was.
You do not ...
- 136k
1
vote
Why is "be" in "this court rules he be put on probation" an infinitive?
It's not. It's the subjunctive mood. Yes, traditionally, both rule and be should be subjunctive. The traditional sentence should therefore be "I suggest that the court rule that he be placed ...
- 7,168
1
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Shall & Should & the “Mandative Subjunctive”
In this context, "should" is just the past simple of "shall".
Mistresses expect that their maids shall wear caps.
vs
Years ago, mistresses expected that their maids should wear ...
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1
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Past subjunctive Vs. Present Subjunctive
As user62235 suggested, the idea that "were" represents the past subjunctive is questionable.
The modal use of "were" in conditional sentences is sometimes called the irrealis "were" to distinguish ...
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