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Anonymous Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

case of subjunctive in the 'if' clause?

0Hi,02br
02br
00I think the subjunctive always plays out in the main clause, but I found what looks to be a subjunctive in the 'if' clause. What is that?02br
02br
00.. the plane offers a superior value proposition, not only as the ultimate trainer, 01u00but if need be02u00, a quality attack plane in case of xxx. 02br
02br
00Why did it not write out what seems to be an appropriate subordinate clause, 'if it needs to be'? 0-
  

Top answer

0Because your sentence is01b 00n't,02b 00 plainly speaking, appropriate. 02br 00but if need be01i 00: but in case the 01b 00need02b 00 01b 00should/would 02b 00arise, or but in case01b 00 there should be a need02b 00 for, or (less good) in case it happens that the need exists/is created for 02i 0-

— Marius Hancu

  • 0Because your sentence is01b 00n't,02b 00 plainly speaking, appropriate.
  • 02br 00but if need be01i 00: but in case the 01b 00need02b 00 01b 00should/would 02b 00arise, or but in case01b 00 there should be a need02b 00 for, or (less good) in case it happens that the need exists/is created for 02i 0-
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18 Answers
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0Because your sentence is01b00n't,02b00 plainly speaking, appropriate. 02br
00but if need be01i00: but in case the 01b00need02b00 01b00should/would 02b00arise, or but in case01b00 there should be a need02b00 for, or (less good) in case it happens that the need exists/is created for
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0 It's not subjunctive. It's the modal use of 01i00need02i00. Modal 01i00need02i00 can occur in non-assertive contexts. Modals never take the 01b00s02b00 in the third person singular of the present tense the way non-modal verbs do. In that way they resemble subjunctive forms, which are also missing the 01b00s
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I have a related question: do we use subjunctive after "need", if it is not the modal use?
As in the sentence:
"I need that my question be treated seriously" ?
Is it correct?

It is perhaps a stupid question but I've just started to learn English.
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There are no 'stupid questions' from learners, Anon, so feel free to ask anything that you need to know.

We cannot use 'need + that' and it does not take subjunctive Your sentence can read:

I need my question to be treated seriously
I need you to treat my question seriously.
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And the secon question: do we use subjonctive after nouns such as: "need", "desire", etc.? As in:
"the human desire that a person loved by us love us in return"
Is that correct???
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A problem is that generally the uses of the English subjunctive are diminishing. Fewer and fewer native speakers use it except in a few set phrases. Therefore, 'the desire that she love me' or 'I desire that she love me', though it is grammatically correct (in terms of a verb which take the subjunctive), is not something I would utter. Other verbs (and their related nouns and adjectives) more r
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Well, now it seems much clearer. Thank you very much!
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Ok, but what about the sentence : "If I were you...". the past of the verb to be in the first person, in the past, is "was" but the subjunctive form is were for all the persons. Therefore you have the subjunctive form. And you can say "If he be there" or "if he be worthy he shall ..."

my questions is the same... why?
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Why do we need to subjunctive, or why is the subjunctive formed this way?
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Anonymousyou can say "If he be there" or "if he be worthy he shall ..."
You can, but people might raise an eyebrow. The if ... be ... combination is from another era, long ago. It's extremely rare in modern English.

Anonymousmy questions is the same... why?
It's not clear what you want to know. Why what?
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