By Whom, Subjunctives

I would not necessarily be sad, even if I were the poorest. (However, the "if I were" usage, especially in the U.S. is not being used much. It seems to be going the way of "this is she" and "whom." For a test, use it, but in conversation, don't worry about it, at least if you're talking to an...

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...

Sandie wrote: "Wouldn't it be funny if he moved into the same place Grandmother was?" if they're referring to her new retirement home? To me, that statement seems to be referring to her old retirement home. But somebody whom I think has a good grasp of grammar made that statement and explained...

First, Munchun, if you are going to post these long passages, please proofread. It is difficult to follow your precise problem if there are a lot of typos, etc. Let me just re-write this thing first, with what I feel is the expected grammar, and then I'll try to answer your questions: 'If I...

Hi Happy, This area is a very contentious one, so it is not surprising that you find different pronouncements within and between grammar books. Here is my opinion on the examples you present: (1) 'Who did it ?' Not I.' The pronoun stands in parallel to the subject 'who', and is a shortened...

No. There is no missing conjunction. There's a play on "look to", which means both "try to" and the literal "take a look at". There is also a typical poetic inversion of verb and object. Note also that in Shakespeare's day "if" used to take the subjunctive, so (uninverted) we have "if looking...

Dear Andrewdust: As I promised, I have reviewed your short story and taken the liberty of making suggested corrections. Again, I want to congratulate you on a well written document. You have real talent that you should continue to develop. I would suggest that you purchase "The Elements of...