By American English, Subjunctives

Hello Anon 1. We suggested that he go to a specialist.] Here, "go" is the present subjunctive. Some speakers prefer to use the present subjunctive in a "that" clause after verbs such as "suggest", "recommend", etc. 2. We suggested that he goes to a specialist.] Here, "goes" is indicative....

Jake, I don't think that "right" and "wrong" are exactly what we're dealing with here. If I say one of these is wrong, there is sure to be another forum member who will say it's right. Many of these are borderline cases. But I'll let you know, below, the cases that are definitely...

Thank you, Diamond! "Topnotch" is a good word. I myself use was/were with "as if" as follows: 1. He looked as if he was about to cry. — describing the appearance of someone in the past. 2. He looks as if he were about to cry. — describing the appearance of someone now; subjunctive "were", so...

Katsudon wrote:Philip wrote: Some people don't know about it, so it is ignored. K: This is something that is not possible, Philip. Every speaker of English is familiar with both forms. It's abundantly clear that the rules of English are not guided by what 'stuffy' speakers use. P: the...

Anonymous wrote:She is from the US and she said, that they changed it two years ago, so that you could use would... Is it that Mr Bush declared that his English be standard American English? paco

Every speaker? You are in a much more sophisticated crowd than I am. I'm sure many people who hear it understand it, but they certainly don't use it themselves. I used 'stuffy' to note the extreme. Those who study other languages learn about it and then recognize it in English (17 years of...

Philip wrote: Some people don't know about it, so it is ignored. K: This is something that is not possible, Philip. Every speaker of English is familiar with both forms. It's abundantly clear that the rules of English are not guided by what 'stuffy' speakers use. P: the subjunctive, largely...

Contrary-to-fact statements require the subjunctive in several languages. "Were", for the singular, in this case, is the subjunctive of the standard English of scores of years ago. Some people don't know about it, so it is ignored. "Stuffy" speakers of today still say, "Were I you, I wouldn't...

Very interesting! I guess it's true, as I have read, that American English is more conservative than British. Of all places for the good old subjunctive to be preserved!

Dear Jim, I have a very big problem. I' m not sure if the following sentences are correct.. I know that the wish structure requires a simple past, usually were, had and modals such as could. But what happen if I need to use other verbs such as go, buy and so on; Is it possible to say I wish I...