In Verbs^x, Inflections^x, Grammar^x

Hi Alienvoord Your analysis is correct. Many a grammar expert will put on airs and insist that only were is correct for unreal condition despite the fact that was is also universally used. In lofty style were is used at least in BrE even in spoken English. At least that's the impression...

Would it be a correct grammar if I used "would have been" instead of "would" in the second sentence or I'm required to use "by now " instead of "now" in the second sentence : "If I had done it a year ago I would be rich now." "If I had...

See (for nouns) Special cases on this page at this grammar site: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/plurals.htm

Milky wrote: <To my mind, the articles are the trickiest part of English grammar> And modals? They are similar to other Germanic languages in structure and as there are only two infinitives in English (and in Swedish, for that matter), the modals or defective auxiliaries are...

Hi Forbes Thank you for your long reply. I do appreciate it. I would just like to say that I my opinion is based on the knowledge I have of the Germanic and Romance languages and it is of course very subjective. I fully understand that not everyone agrees with me and what I consider easy may be...

New2grammar wrote: So you are saying the 'if' usage does not automatically make a sentence subjunctive? Can you give me a couple of examples in different contexts where 'if' is not subjunctive? Certainly, New2grammar: 1. I showed him some pictures yesterday. If he lik ed a picture, he would...

Hi Incho I agree with the previous posters completely; I would just like to elaborate a little from a non-native speaker's standpoint to a non-native speaker. We're both foreigners, right? Since there are hardly any inflections in English, the word order is very rigid and certain phrases and...

Hi Inchoateknowledge There are of course very few words and inflections that can be said to be absolutely synonymous. Begin, start, hate, like, dislike, love, neglect, prefer, continue, and cease are often mentioned in lists of verbs that can take an infinitive or a gerund with little or no...

FYI The second form is the one I see 99% of the time in professionally edited grammar books. Sometimes boldface type is reserved for a lexical item that takes various inflections, e.g., there may be a reference to be -- the italicized form then being used for the specific inflected forms,...

Owing to the fact that there are so few inflections in English, the few inflected forms that there are are used in a number of ways. An ing- form, for example, can be 1. a present participle: a walking man 2. a noun: the beginning as easy 3. an adjective: I was willing to learn it 4. a...