In Modals^x, Auxiliaries^x, Subjunctives^x

Lest 'tends to have a modal auxiliary or (esp in AmE) the present subjunctive' (Quirk, et al. 15.48) He was scared lest the corpse be / should be removed.

Cool Breeze wrote: Grammarian-bot wrote: Congress is debating a bill requiring certain employers to provide workers with unpaid leave so that they can care for sick or newborn children. I have a serious problem with deciding when to use prepositions before verbs and when not to. Any...

Grammarian-bot wrote: Congress is debating a bill requiring certain employers to provide workers with unpaid leave so that they can care for sick or newborn children. I have a serious problem with deciding when to use prepositions before verbs and when not to. Any help/suggestions. Hi GB The...

With further consideration, I can only think that the author of the Wikipedia article on 'Subjunctive Mood' is considering the idea in its widest sense-- as 'any verb or structure that expresses a condition which is doubtful or not factual'. This is interesting for linguistic purposes, but is...

I am indeed trying to help you, and I'll try once more and then be done. The last two examples that you quote fromWikipedia are not in the subjunctive. Subjunctive is a verb form. Both are merely adverbial clauses of purpose (the conjunction is ' so that '), and both must include the auxiliary...

Hello I have trouble explaining modal auxiliaries to German speakers. He must be drunk. to put this into the past = He must have been drunk. She should see the doctor. this into the past = she should have seen the doctor. But .. He can play the piano into the past =? #1. he can have played...

I am studying the verb "wish". It is often followed by a clause in the subjunctive mood. I wonder only state verbs can appear in the clause in the past form, while action verbs must be proceded by a modal auxiliary verb. I wish that I were a bird. (1) I wish that I flew. (2) I wish I could...

Hellow Zewu I'm an English learner from Japan. I am afraid I don't know much about English enough to answer such questions as those you are asking. But allow me to put my two cents worth. First of all, let me define some grammatical terms. In English, people usually say 'subjunctive mood'...

I can only add a little toward the answers to your questions. In general the modal auxiliaries are used to express not statements of fact but actions or events that exist only as conceptions of the mind -- possibilities, potentialities, necessities, wishes, whatever may or may not...

Hello CJ Thank you for the reply. I feel I still didn't get the exact senses of will/would used in your speach. Every auxiliary verbs (modals) are diificult for me to grasp its sense. "Will/would" are above all the ones most difficult. You native speakers (and some ESL) could acquire those...