In Clauses^x, Conversations^x

Hello Andrei and Casi I hope you don’t mind if I answer both of you at the same time. First, to Andrei: Casi has quite rightly mentioned an oversight in my previous answer. The forms of which these are examples are often found, especially in conversation: 1. ‘Peter was searched for by...

I've tried to find my way through the maze of our past conversation here, Hela, and I see that I have made at least one obvious mistake, and that you were correct in part of your original assumption. I have reviewed my understanding of the Subjunctive Mood, and this sentence-- 'If I caught you,...

All correct. Look at the list again. With "if" statements, "could" is possible for both present and past in the "if" clause. But remember that "could" is a substitute for "may" in the case of the first two in the present. If you want to express that she is able to go (to the party), you will...

It was a curious business. It made things very awkward for foreign businessmen who, when faced with a few stumbling words of French or German from their British counterparts, were put in the difficult position of deciding how to guide the conversation gently back to a language that was...

So when is the word "that" necessary? In the examples you are concerned with, where "that" is a complementizer (connecting to another clause), the word "that" is never absolutely necessary. In formal writing I would use it. In informal writing or conversation, I sometimes include it and...

Pastel, Never say "never"! There are very few verbs in English that cause such a commotion. I think my examples illustrate the most usual ones. "take" is so flexible that I included a separate section at the end with more examples. These are illustrations of preposed "it" as a...

Thank you, Dave. I'm not sure I know the right answers to all your questions, but I'll try. I wouldn't say that the English language does not have a "true" subjunctive mood. Perhaps it's only that it is not so 'developed', so to speak, as, say, the indicative mood, in the sense that it does not...

Malory, I don't think I can give you a response different from the one I posted to the WHO/WHOM/WHOSE thread... because that's what I know about these words! ~L~ "who" will be the subject of a clause (nominative form), while "whom" will be the object (objective form). This is as simple as I can...

Who, whom and whose are relative pronouns. Who and whom are used for persons. They introduce relative clauses postmodifying the head of a noun phrase, and they are identical in form with interrogative pronouns but function differently. Who: nominative form. "The student who failed the test was...

What we're saying is that both are "correct" in some sense. "This is I" is correct technically. "This is me" is what the vast, vast majority of people actually say in practice. "This is me" is not technically correct, but it is what most people say in reality. So ... in an exam, use "This is...