Search results for 'tag:Phrasal verbs tag:Subjunctives' matching tags 'Phrasal verbs' and 'Subjunctives'

Re: "English Phrasal Verbs in Use" by Cambridge University Press:

Marius Hancu — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 10:14:55 GMT

AmE
Several verbs (suggest, recommend, ask, etc) require the subjunctive after them:
I suggested she go to the library.

BrE
The subjunctive is avoided in such constructions, and the should + infinitive is used:
I suggested she should go to the library.
or ordinary present and past tenses:
I suggested she went to the library.

See: Swan, Practical English Usage, should (in subordinate clauses) and subjunctive.

Re: How to use i.e. /e.g./ for example /and so on

Jussive — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 23:04:14 GMT

CalifJim wrote:
I avoid answering ...

You just did " src="../emoticons/emotion-2.gif">

Avoid or answer?

I tried responding to the phrasal verb thread and got into some technical difficulties. For some reason, it wouldn't let me post. And then I just forgot about it and never tried again as I got involved in some other threads.

Anyway, I'm still cogitating on phrasal verbs. You know how you start off thinking one thing and by the time you explain why you think that way you end up wondering if you truly do believe it. I'm sort of in that never-never land on phrasal verbs right now, so I prefer to think it over a little more before saying anything even more confusing than I've already said.

As for the subjunctive thread, it seemed to be asking for terminology. I'm not as well-read as I should be on that sort of thing, my attitude being "Call it a monkey if you want"! It's clear that there is an "if only ... would" construction, and an "I wish ..." construction, and an "if I were ..." construction, and I've never found it amusing to speculate on what the best descriptive word (subjunctive, or whatever) might be for each case. My personal preference is to avoid the word "subjunctive" where the word "would" is concerned. I just don't see "would" as a marker of the subjunctive. Other than that I don't have any strong opinions on it (today, anyway!).

CJ

Hi CJ

I was reading an archived post on the subject of the subjunctive (I think by a user called Maria or Mara) and you were on that thread too. She was talking about a similar issue and I just simply disagreed with her. She said that when we use the past simple to refer to a wish or non-fact that it was the 'unmarked subjunctive'. How on earth can it be unmarked if we use the past tense to identify it!

Sometimes I feel I'm going out of my mind looking for answers to my questions. I feel I need to know the answers because I'm new to teaching and I feel I have to make damn sure that I know my target language. If a student points to some construction and asks me if it's the subjunctive or not, I can't reply, 'No, it's a monkey!'

I know what you mean when you say you begin to answer something and then you realise that your answer is leading you to inconsistencies in your own understanding. I'm sure that's a good thing, in some ways, albeit frustrating. Sometimes, when people don't reply to my questions I feel that, either I've asked a really stupid question or a really difficult one. I get paranoid and I don't understand why some people are here.

Some have thousands of posts and I would have thought that meant that they have dealt with every possible grammar question. Because I'm new to teaching, I'm under the assumption that every teacher here knows more about English grammar than I do, and that's why it's really frustrating for me. I feel that, if someone knows the answer to my questions then why don't they just tell me!

If anyone thinks that I should find out the answers for myself, they don't know how wrong they are. Everything I have learnt has been self-taught. I learned everything the hard way and from scratch. If I have a question, you can be sure it derived from some painful research that didn't reveal the answer.

Anyway, thanks for your responses so far, CJ

Jussive

Re: How to use i.e. /e.g./ for example /and so on

CalifJim — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 22:11:14 GMT

I avoid answering ...

You just did ">

Avoid or answer?

I tried responding to the phrasal verb thread and got into some technical difficulties. For some reason, it wouldn't let me post. And then I just forgot about it and never tried again as I got involved in some other threads.

Anyway, I'm still cogitating on phrasal verbs. You know how you start off thinking one thing and by the time you explain why you think that way you end up wondering if you truly do believe it. I'm sort of in that never-never land on phrasal verbs right now, so I prefer to think it over a little more before saying anything even more confusing than I've already said.

As for the subjunctive thread, it seemed to be asking for terminology. I'm not as well-read as I should be on that sort of thing, my attitude being "Call it a monkey if you want"! It's clear that there is an "if only ... would" construction, and an "I wish ..." construction, and an "if I were ..." construction, and I've never found it amusing to speculate on what the best descriptive word (subjunctive, or whatever) might be for each case. My personal preference is to avoid the word "subjunctive" where the word "would" is concerned. I just don't see "would" as a marker of the subjunctive. Other than that I don't have any strong opinions on it (today, anyway!).

CJ

Re: How to use i.e. /e.g./ for example /and so on

Jussive — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 21:16:01 GMT

CalifJim wrote:

I avoid answering any posts on punctuation because of this.
CJ

You just did

What does 'seat-of-the-pants' mean, CJ?

I used to use periods/full stops too. I just changed as modern English doesn't seem to require them. In fact, I think modern English has far less punctuation altogether. I'll go along with that. Why make life more complicated

Btw, how about responding to my subjunctive thread and the old phrasal verb thread. I value your opinion

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