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John C. Posted 23 years ago
Grammar

Bit moody about subjunctive

I'm having trouble getting a handle on the subjunctive mood.

If I make a statement:
"Sally is coming to my party"
this is clearly indicative

If I express a wish in the form:
"Would that Sally can come to my party!"
this is clearly subjunctive

But if I make a statement that contains a wish
"I wish that Sally would come to my party."
Is this subjunctive or not?

I mean, I'm expressing a fact about a wish, so I'm not clear on this.

Any ideas?


John.
  

Top answer

The subjunctive refers to a verb used in certain structures, not in what you wnat to express. If I were you, I wouln't do it. It's important that he be informed inmediately.

— Raul

  • The subjunctive refers to a verb used in certain structures, not in what you wnat to express.
  • If I were you, I wouln't do it.
  • It's important that he be informed inmediately.
  • These sentences are in subjuctive form.
  • However, this is not so common in these days.
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1 Answers
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The subjunctive refers to a verb used in certain structures, not in what you wnat to express.

If I were you, I wouln't do it.
It's important that he be informed inmediately.

These sentences are in subjuctive form. However, this is not so common in these days. You'd rather say or write:

If I was you, I wouldn't do it.
It's important that he should be infor
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