By Conversations, Subjunctives

Marius Hancu wrote: Goodman wrote: Can i say: It is essential that we be informed of your plans. Yes! Help him understand - OkIt is essential that we should be informed of your plans. We insist that he must be on time There are those who use modal in subjunctive which in my opinion is...

Hi Gary, W. Somerset Maugham said, "The subjunctive mood is in its death throes, and the best thing to do is to put it out of its misery as soon as possible." I personally love it, but I'm in my seventies. I don't think it or I can last much longer. It will take a lot of work to really learn...

SHALL AND WILL IT is unfortunate that the idiomatic use, while it comes by nature to southern Englishmen (who will find most of this section superfluous), is so complicated that those who are not to the manner born can hardly acquire it; and for them the section is in danger of being...

Hi Bokeh, Becasue of your reply, it made me take a second look at the original question. I also did some research and found this paper written on the subject of Semantic Composition of Subjunctive Conditionals by Michela Ippolito of MIT/Tübingen University. I am not completely sure if I...

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...

Goodman wrote:Gents, With all due respect, I have this question. Whether we are speaking of the visitors coming to the forum or English learners in general; do we really expect the ESL students and learners at the average level to have the ability to process, as well as determine when and how...

Hello Hela I think 1a and 2a are closest in meaning. To my mind, 1b would be more likely than 1a to precede a statement such as "maybe I'll take up yoga", for instance; and 2b would be more likely to be used where there had been some obstacle to seeing the band – perhaps they were held up and...

Goldmund wrote: Dear Jussive, I am sorry. I have not read the CGEL. I therefore do not know why such examples should exist. It is not possible to find them on the Internet. Kind regards, Goldmund Neither have I read it. These examples were quoted to me elsewhere, apparently, from the...

During the late 18th/early 19th century, "you was" was acceptable among upper and upper-middle class native BrE speakers (you can find it in the conversations in Jane Austen's novels). It's still common in some varieties of BrE (east London English, for instance). I've always thought it would...

Hello Davkett I'm envisaging a conversation like this: "Do you have any tissues?" "There should be some in the glove compartment." "Are they clean?" "Of course they're clean!" "Are you sure?" "Well, no, I'm not 'sure'. But if they weren't¹ clean, they'd be in that bijou little garbage...