Kooyeen  +  428333 Sun, 07 Oct 07 10:08 PM Hi, I wonder if with "suppose" and "immagine" both present tenses and subjunctives can be used. The following are all present in meaning (not past), are they all ok and idiomatic? 1 - Suppose you are on an island all by yourself. What would you do? / What do you do? 2 - Suppose you were on an island all by yourself. What would you do? 3 - Imagine you are on an island all by yourself. What would you do? / What do you do? 4 - Imagine you were on an island all by yourself. What would you do? Comments will be appreciated. Thanks Kooyeen Joined on Thu, Dec 22 2005 Italy Veteran Member 5,200 I'm on your internets, degrading your language with my ignorance and apathy Tenses, Present Tenses, Subjunctives

	Ant_222  +  428377 Mon, 08 Oct 07 01:18 AM While there's no replies... I think they are both possible and, independent of which verb you use (suppose/imagine), Present Simple and subjunctive versions have different degrees of probability. Completely improbable situations require the subjunctive: Suppose/Imagine you were a woman. If you were a woman... Ant_222 Joined on Sun, May 21 2006 Podolsk, Russia Contributing Member 1,742 Verbs, Subjunctives, Present Simple

	Kooyeen  +  428619 Mon, 08 Oct 07 07:45 PM Hi, well, it's not true that improbable or impossible situations require the subjunctive... but I really don't know if the subjunctive is natural with "suppose" and "imagine". I'm afraid it's only ok with "suppose", so #4 is the only one that is unnatural. But I also think present tenses are much more common, so #1 and #3 are the most natural ones... Does this make any sense? Thanks Kooyeen Tenses, Present Tenses, Subjunctives

	CalifJim  +  428667 Mon, 08 Oct 07 09:36 PM I see no problem of any kind with any of your examples. Within 1 and 3, I prefer What do you do?, but your alternative raises no eyebrows either.  CJ CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 24,203 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche

	Kooyeen  +  428681 Mon, 08 Oct 07 10:51 PM Ok, thanks Kooyeen

	Ant_222  +  429006 Tue, 09 Oct 07 07:31 PM CJ: Which one of these would you prefer? 1. Suppose you were a woman, would you try to seduce him? 2. Suppose you are a woman? Would you try to seduce him? Thanks in advance. Ant_222

	Ant_222  +  429046 Tue, 09 Oct 07 09:13 PM Marius: «Only: 1. Suppose you were a woman, would you try to seduce him?» Yeah, so I just can't conciliate your reply with Kooyeen's... Is my first post in the thread right? Sorry for bothering... Ant_222

	Kooyeen  +  429083 Tue, 09 Oct 07 10:49 PM Hi Ant, what's the problem? You can say "Suppose you are..." or "Suppose you were..." Your sentence #2 is not good because there is an odd question mark... 2. Suppose you are a woman? Would you try to seduce him? So I'm not sure what you are asking now... Kooyeen Question Marks