In Conditionals^x, Verbs^x, Idioms^x

Inchoateknowledge wrote: Marius Hancu wrote: Inchoateknowledge wrote: The modal idiom to be to is used to express requirement, just like to have to Not in such contexts, IMO, not with "were." Hi Marius, why not? Past tense, conditional mood. were to is a past tense form of to be...

Hela, Yes. The constuction is "... prefer(s) that he stay". My dictionary lists "rather" as only an adverb, no other part of speech. Nevertheless, it does no harm to understanding, and may actually help, if you consider 'd rather as an idiom acting as a verb. Analyzing it strictly as an...

Hello Jack In addition to what you already have from Abbie, here's some stuff from another thread, which may help with the general background to AS IF statements. I’ve set out 'as if' in the style of conditional structures, for convenience. AS IF structures are perhaps more easily understood...

Maverick has a valid point about the insertion of if he is a fool => He is behaving as if he is a fool! (Cf. 'he's behaving like a fool'.) He acts as if he owns the place => He acts as if he owns the place! It looks as if he’s lying => It looks as if he’s lying. It looks as if I'll have...

Goodness! I'm trapped in a conundrum, and I don't even know it! None of the "would" + base-form-of-verb patterns are past. They are all conditional. "would like" is an idiom for "want"; the substitute is often made for politeness. "I would go" and "That would be nice" are pure...

Hard to say how subjunctive mood *exactly* works in such a small room. The Subjunctive Mood denotes a mood of verbs when the content of the clause is being doubted, supposed, feared true, etc., rather than being asserted (which is the Indicative Mood). The rules for its use and the range of...