What is the best way to identify subjunctives? It may be better just to ignore them! English has so few forms that are obviously subjunctive that it's not often you'll see them. Most subjunctive forms are the same as non-subjunctive forms,

Не would have lent you the book last week if you could have called for it . You need if you had called/asked for it or if you had been able to call/ask for it . The past perfect forms had called, had asked, and had been able are in fact called

the day after it actually happened Then it's wouldn't . Though some variation is possible in the right situation, the typical groups of tenses that go together in the same sentence are: Present perfect - Present - Future of the Present (

Hi Pres1dent You should break up long posts such as this one into several short posts. That way it's much easier for other people to comment. I've made suggestions. Some of the sentences in these exercises don't sound terribly natural, so there

Hi, Can you confirm my surmises for the sentence below? The mistake which the leaders and John made 1) could have been prevented , if they 2) had been cautious and asked for help. 1) Is the main function of modal verbs like 'could' to

CalifJim wrote: The sentence is complicated by the fact that you can make the past of can by using could , but you have to make the past of must by using must have . And must have been is not a past perfect tense, by the way. It's one of the

The sentence is complicated by the fact that you can make the past of can by using could , but you have to make the past of must by using must have . And must have been is not a past perfect tense, by the way. It's one of the modal perfect

Thanks a lot again for all your help. "Would" seems to be the most confusing modal verb in English grammer and trying hard to learn the correct usages of this mysterious word . As Nona said. they might have used "Would have had to" to express

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

Hello all, I am applying to take a CELTA course and they gave me an application task to do before I can enter the program. I am having some difficulty with some parts and was wondering if some one would be willing to help me. I use msn