I just want to point out the word "could" is indicative of the subjunctive mood Modal verbs don't have tenses and moods in the way that other verbs do. could certainly acts like a past subjunctive in If I could help you, I would.

Why should we use 'would' ,'could' in the subjunctive mood and in the future tense? would and could , along with several other verbs, are called modal verbs. The modal verbs don't really have tenses, so you can't really use

Thank you, CalifJim and Philip, for the interesting discussion. When I had gone to bed this night, I ruminated on the explanation through the subjunctive, like Philip, although it never occurred to me that the verb ("signify") might be

Hi, Philip, I was on the fence about it, so I avoided (I thought) any suggestion that your interpretation was wrong. The reason for my vacillation was the verb signify , which seemed to me unable to govern a subjunctive -- and yet -- ??? Had the

Thanks for chiming in, CJ. So, you think it's not a subjunctive form? I was merely speculating because it sounded like one to me.

Hidden in this great 19th-Century prose is the subjunctive form, need , the reason for which I cannot identify right now. The subjunctive was used much more commonly at the time this was written. The subjunctive is the bare form of the infinitive,

Yet if she could have seen me there, she would have been a little puzzled. What verb form is "could have seen" in this sentence? Personally, I would just call it a "modal perfect" (with could ). I use that term for any modal

Could in the main clause is probably a conditional mood, isn't it? Yes. But could in the following sentence is a subjunctive, isn't it? Не would l ent lend you the book if you could call for it . It's in a subjunctive context, but I

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

What’s the difference between modals and the English subjunctive? Modal verbs are often found in sentences with the subjunctive, but not always. Modal verbs can be used in A LOT of different ways and situations, so it depends. 1. “He should