Here's how it should be: Jackson would have celebrated his fiftieth birthday this August if he were alive . Jackson would have celebrated his fiftieth birthday this August if he had not died earlier this year . There are a

I'm still somewhat confused regarding the subjunctive mood. Suppose we are talking about two different people, two "hes", is this correct? (1) He is rich, and he wishes he were rich. (2) He was rich, and he wishes he

Hi. Could you please show the example of infinitive that you refer to? In #1, I take "come" as subjunctive, referring to the future. I take "came" as a suggestion about what might have happened in the past. It sounds a bit

I profess that I am a thief. Okay, but "confess" would be more common. To acknowledge I profess like a father. My American Heritage gives this meaning (intransitive), but I've never heard it. There are common religious meanings,

"It's great already, just seeing it in three-dee and talking with you just as if you're real." I'm not sure of the context here, but to me it's simply bad language. People today are quite sophisticated, and unlikely to

I found a website that could help you. I'll quote part of it for you: "May/might is an example of a modal auxiliary verb. The distinction between may and might has to do with the tense (present, past etc.) and/ or mood (indicative/

Hi Anon As Cool Breeze mentioned, the verb "consent" is used in the present subjunctive ( not the simple present tense) in your sentence. The present subjunctive looks exactly the same as the base form of the verb (infinitive) in 1st,

I'd say the intention in all three of these is simple present plus present subjunctive: His wife's family prefer he not come , but the "would" form is considered more polite.

Hi Tim I have to agree with GG. That doesn't sound like any version of English I've ever heard. She's can mean either she is or she has (depending on the context). However, she's does not mean she was -- not in written and also not

Not my area of expertise, but my instinct says that "ability" is all they carry. I read two possible scenarios: two days ago he tried and failed, and, two days ago he was unable for other reasons to attempt the lift. The portion after