http://www.englishforums.com/search/pro.htm?q=tag%3aNominative+tag%3aEnglish+grammar+tag%3aDifference+betweenSearch results for 'tag:Nominative tag:English grammar tag:Difference between' matching tags 'Nominative', 'English grammar', and 'Difference between'en-USCSMOD (Build: 3273.32735)http://www.englishforums.com/English/TheUseOfHope/2/bblrh/Post.htm#91620Tue, 19 Apr 2005 23:23:31 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:91620paco2004 I want that you clean up your room this instant It would not surprise me to learn that it was possible in some NAmE Englishes Some Romance language speaking immigrants may speak it Quote from Everything2 The Subjunctive Mood of English After verbs which formerly used the subjunctive mood we often find the logically odd but economical construction of the accusative pronoun or just regular noun plus the infinitive Thus we are saved from saying I want that he be good today instead we use I want him to be good today Alternatively in the negative sentences like I don t want him seeing that girl anymore the present participle is sometimes found When you look at the latter sentence from a logical point of view which is often futile in English grammar altogether the subject doesn t really want the object him but rather wishes that the subject of the subjunctive clause exhibit the characteristic of being good Perhaps on the model of the predicate nominative one could label this phenomenon the subject accusative In a modern language that retains the subjunctive such as French we find Je veux qu il soit sage I want that he be good behave whereas the phrase Je le veux être sage I want him to be good behave is completely absurd This illustrates the difference between French and English which has all but lost its subjunctive form yet still feels a subconscious need to convey the emotion in I want him to be good instead of losing it completely in the non subjunctival construction I want that he s good paco