By Modals, Tenses

Best to wait for the mod squad.My ear says (who would one day be his second wife) equals (who was one day to be / become his second wife.) That is, would be = was to be.The use of present tense in your original italicized excerpt makes it sound like the voice-over in a documentary film. - A.

Hello, there, In the following sentence: Born in New York City on Oct. 27, 1858, Theodore Roosevelt is the second of four children of Theodore and Martha Bulloch Roosevelt. At age 6, T.R., his brother Elliott and friend Edith Carow (who would one day be his second wife) watch Abraham...

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This is a modal construction (could), not a subjunctive.Here's a subjunctive (underlined): It is important that you be right. I'm not sure what you're asking, I guess.CJ

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 (will) - Most modal verbs, including can, may, must, shouldOR Past Perfect - Past - Future...

Infinitive means not finite, that is, not tied to any particular tense or time. It does not mean the simple present. It isn't any tense at all.The infinitive is formed by adding the word to in front of the dictionary form of the verb.Infinitives: to do, to go, to see, to knowInfinitives...

Thank you very much Grammar Geek,but to be frank ,I'm still confused aout the use of' Would' here.Can we use WILL instead of WOULD in #1 ?and why don't they use WILL in # 2?Similarly your sentence is " If the candidate has such proficiency, it would be preferable .Why not...

Hi,The following looks like reported speech to me. Why doesn't it have any quotation marks? I think the intention that refers to the future doesn't need to be inflected? with a tense change like in the case of the use of the modal 'will' but I have a strong feeling anything that...

"a form of the past tense" doesn't make sense to me. There is only one form of the past tense. I think you mean "a past tense form".Here are the forms of the modals. (Recall that this does not mean that they are used only in these tenses.)Present: will, shall, can,...

In some cases this is possible, but not in general. You would typically have some sort of modal verb there.I'm sorry you are leaving us so soon.I'm sorry you have to have such a serious operation next month.I'm sorry you can't attend the party tonight. CJ