In Subjunctives^x, Expressions^x

Schoolteacher wrote: We can sometimes use Simple Past to refer to the present and this is called Unreal Past.........you know......for wishes.......eg. I wish I were rich!!!( but i'm not)..........to wish for something that we wanted to be different in the present but it's not. In this category...

Hello MrPedantic, yep, you are quite right! Then {with X} and {without X} (should?) have the same status, in principle, as expressions which set some 'condition.' Then we have to seek purely 'pragmatic' explanations to account for the oddity, as you and Clive did. (I won't disagree!) I'm...

"God blesses you" would be stating a fact, which is not the meaning of the expression. So yes, it may be a shortened version of "May God bless you", or 'simply' a subjunctive. See "God save the queen", or "Long live the king". As to the other, I have no idea, sorry...

'It's a dream come true!' is a common fixed expression in my neck of the woods. I never thought about its grammar, though. Could a formulaic subjunctive be lurking within?

The subjunctive mood is used in dependent clauses that do the following: 1) express a wish; 2) begin with if and express a condition that does not exist (is contrary to fact); 3) begin with as if and as though when such clauses describe a speculation or condition contrary to fact; and 4) begin...

I think expressions of the kind have an implication that the hope ceased at the past time mentioned. Otherwise I cannot understand why it should be in the past perfect tense. He hoped he would become a doctor, and it was exactly what his parents expected him to do. He had hoped he would become...

Dear teachers, A/ Would you please tell me if my answers are correct ? 1) She regrets having spoken so rudely to her teacher. She wishes she hadn’t spoken so rudely to her teacher. 2) The mechanic will service my car this afternoon. I will have my car serviced this afternoon. 3) He...

Hello MrP In the Japanese conditionals, we change the apodosis' expressions according to conditionals' reality. In the case the conditional is known to be rather unreal, we use an expression similar to English modal constructs in the apodosis, and when we judge neutrally about the possibility of...

Hello CJ Thanks for the reply. I googled the phrases "if I had/would have known that" and found about 10 % of people use "would have known" for "had known". What I'd like to know is the reason why those people are using "would have known" for "had known". The subjunctive past "had known" and the...

Hello Clive Thank you so much for the quick reply. So you mean the ponit is how much easier the collocutor could feel when he/she is requested something by the expression. This reasoning is quite persuasive as far as 'subjunctive' and 'progressive' are concerned. But as for 'past', I feel...