By Subjunctives, Modals

HelloI have trouble explaining modal auxiliaries to German speakers.He must be drunk.to put this into the past = He must have been drunk. She should see the doctor.this into the past = she should have seen the doctor.But ....He can play the pianointo the past =? #1. he can have played the...

Hello Jet Li, welcome to English Forums! These are the possible answers, to my mind (excluding modals such as "may", "might", etc.): 1. Because this house was badly built, the ceiling of this room leaks if it has been raining heavily outside. 2. Because this house was badly built, the ceiling...

Rahul Malhotra wrote:but, i dont know why so many books on english grammar says that modals should not be used in the condition of conditionals and can only be used in the result. Often, this is caused by this situation where the above rule is correct: ---------- would have for had. In...

Listen carefully: I would rather you didn't use the Volvo this afternoon'Would rather + someone else do something' is a modal idiom of hypothesis properly taking the subjunctive.

Julielai wrote: Just out of curiosity, Mr. P, how do you distinguish a native speaker who's learned a non-standard form of English from a decent non-native speaker? (e.g. How can you tell if a speaker born in India, Singapore or other Asian countries is native?) Hello Julie I'm not sure I...

Matress wrote: YoHf wrote: Gingie wrote: 2. may god blesses you. please.. help me.. i am confused.. Here you can't have the "s"/"es" of the 3rd singular person also because there is "may", a modal verb... Ex.: "He may go out", and not "he may goes out" The same happens with other modal...

http://www.englishforums.com/English/Pleased/hvdv/Post.htmhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/Subjunctive/gmkc/Post.htmIn both of the above posts, miriam has explained the subjunctive in detail but it's all quite confusing to me. I've studied subjuctive from American Heritage and Columbian Guide...

Dear MrP, So according to what you've said what would be the closest equivalent to the following sentences: 1) Unfortunately, I'm not as agile as I used to be. a) If only I were as agile as I used to be. (this one ?) b) If only I could be as agile... 2) I regret the fact that we didn't see...

I am studying the verb "wish". It is often followed by a clause in the subjunctive mood. I wonder only state verbs can appear in the clause in the past form, while action verbs must be proceded by a modal auxiliary verb. I wish that I were a bird. (1) I wish that I flew. (2) I wish I...

Swiss Jake wrote: 1. I wish he would stop complaining. 2.I wish he should stop complaining. I want to know that after the word "wish" which word I should use between "would"/"should". Hi, doesn't "to whish" trigger the subjunctive and therefore "should" must be used? For...