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Kenta Posted 18 years ago
Grammar
About subjunctive mood
Hello.
I found these two sentences in my textbook.
1. To hear her speak English, you would think she was American.
2. If this were a picture of my family, I would feel there is no justice in any war.
Why does the first sentence use "was" and the second one "is"?
Is there any difference?
Thank you!
I found these two sentences in my textbook.
1. To hear her speak English, you would think she was American.
2. If this were a picture of my family, I would feel there is no justice in any war.
Why does the first sentence use "was" and the second one "is"?
Is there any difference?
Thank you!
Top answer
It has nothing to do with subjunctive mood. there was ).
- It has nothing to do with subjunctive mood.
- there was ).
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3 Answers
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It has nothing to do with subjunctive mood. The verb of the dependent clause regresses with the main verb (would think...she was, would feel...there was), but may be retained in present tense if the condition still obtains now (would think...she is, would feel...there was).
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It has nothing to do with subjunctive mood. The verb of the dependent clause regresses with the main verb (would think...she was, would feel...there was), but may be retained in present tense if the condition still obtains now (would think...she is, would feel...there was).
.
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Hello, MIcawber.
I need more explanation.
1. To hear her speak English, you would think she was American.
I think "was" is used because this sentence is a subjunctive mood.
This sentence means "She is not American. But she speaks English very well,
so she is like American."
Or I can also say, "If you heard her speak English, you would think sh
I need more explanation.
1. To hear her speak English, you would think she was American.
I think "was" is used because this sentence is a subjunctive mood.
This sentence means "She is not American. But she speaks English very well,
so she is like American."
Or I can also say, "If you heard her speak English, you would think sh
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No. It's really not subjunctive. That would be ... think she were American.
It's just a matter of the normal sequence of tenses.
will think ... that she is ...
would think ... that she was ...
If I wear these clothes, everyone will think that I am rich.
If I wore these clothes, everyone would think that I was rich.
It's just a matter of the normal sequence of tenses.
will think ... that she is ...
would think ... that she was ...
If I wear these clothes, everyone will think that I am rich.
If I wore these clothes, everyone would think that I was rich.
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