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MrGuedes Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
I don't care if he was/were
Hello! I have a question about a video I have recently seen, from an episode of the TV series The Big Bang Theory.
Context: It's 03:00, and Leonard and Penny are woken up by Sheldon, who is playing bongos. Leonard lives in the same flat as him, and Penny lives in another flat in the same building. At some point, Leonard manages to stop Sheldon, and a few seconds later, Penny arrives at their flat.
PENNY: What the hell??!!
LEONARD: Hi, Penny! Guess what? Sheldon got bongos!
PENNY: Where did you get bongos??
SHELDON: Richard Feynman played the bongos, so I thought I'd give that a try.
LEONARD (to Penny): Richard Feynman was a famous physicist...
PENNY (interrupting him): Leonard, it's 3 o'clock in the morning. I don't care it Richard Feynman was a purple ___ who lived in my butt! (I actually didn't catch that word, but I think it's not important)
SHELDON (begins to play the bongos again, and sings): Penny meant "if he were a purple ___". Penny forgot to use the subjunctive. (Once again, that same word)
Let me draw your attention to that bold part. Penny says "I don't care if he was [...]". Then, Sheldon corrects her, by saying she meant "I don't care if he were [...]".
My question is: is that correction correct? I know that the Past Simple of the verb to be is was for the 1st and 3rd persons of the singular, and were for the others. But I also know that, in sentences with the 2nd Conditional -- and, as far as I'm aware, only in 2nd Conditional sentences --, when the verb of the clause with if is the verb to be, the form used is were, regardless of the person used.
In this case, this is not a 2nd Conditional sentence, (is it?) because the particle if can be replaced with whether, which doesn't happen in 2nd Conditional sentences -- at least, as far as I know. But still, somehow, in this type of sentence, must the Past Simple of the verb to be be used as were, regardless of the person, as though it were a normal 2nd Conditional sentence?
Thanks in advance for any reply!
Oh! And, by the way, if you want to see that video, here is the link: . It's quite short, and it's really funny, so it's worth it. And, if you do watch it, try to catch that word I missed, OK? Now I'm curious what it is... Thanks!
Context: It's 03:00, and Leonard and Penny are woken up by Sheldon, who is playing bongos. Leonard lives in the same flat as him, and Penny lives in another flat in the same building. At some point, Leonard manages to stop Sheldon, and a few seconds later, Penny arrives at their flat.
PENNY: What the hell??!!
LEONARD: Hi, Penny! Guess what? Sheldon got bongos!
PENNY: Where did you get bongos??
SHELDON: Richard Feynman played the bongos, so I thought I'd give that a try.
LEONARD (to Penny): Richard Feynman was a famous physicist...
PENNY (interrupting him): Leonard, it's 3 o'clock in the morning. I don't care it Richard Feynman was a purple ___ who lived in my butt! (I actually didn't catch that word, but I think it's not important)
SHELDON (begins to play the bongos again, and sings): Penny meant "if he were a purple ___". Penny forgot to use the subjunctive. (Once again, that same word)
Let me draw your attention to that bold part. Penny says "I don't care if he was [...]". Then, Sheldon corrects her, by saying she meant "I don't care if he were [...]".
My question is: is that correction correct? I know that the Past Simple of the verb to be is was for the 1st and 3rd persons of the singular, and were for the others. But I also know that, in sentences with the 2nd Conditional -- and, as far as I'm aware, only in 2nd Conditional sentences --, when the verb of the clause with if is the verb to be, the form used is were, regardless of the person used.
In this case, this is not a 2nd Conditional sentence, (is it?) because the particle if can be replaced with whether, which doesn't happen in 2nd Conditional sentences -- at least, as far as I know. But still, somehow, in this type of sentence, must the Past Simple of the verb to be be used as were, regardless of the person, as though it were a normal 2nd Conditional sentence?
Thanks in advance for any reply!
Oh! And, by the way, if you want to see that video, here is the link: . It's quite short, and it's really funny, so it's worth it. And, if you do watch it, try to catch that word I missed, OK? Now I'm curious what it is... Thanks!
Top answer
MrGuedes is that correction correct? No. com/reference/dictionary/entry/leprechaun
- MrGuedes is that correction correct?
- No.
- com/reference/dictionary/entry/leprechaun
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14 Answers
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MrGuedesis that correction correct?No.
MrGuedes that word I missedhttp://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/leprechaun
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OK. When one knows Sheldon, it's hard for one to doubt that he might be wrong in anything he says, you see? That's why I was asking...enoonNo.
MrGuedes: Is that correction correct?
enoonleprechaunLeprechaun... I've never heard that. No way I could have caught it...
Th
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MrGuedesWhen one knows Sheldon, it's hard for one to doubt that he might be wrong in anything he says,He mispronounces "coitus".
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enoonHe mispronounces "coitus".Does he? I think he says ['k??.??s]. Though I've never heard heard that word in any other place, that's how I would say it. What's wrong with it?
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enoonDoctors use three syllables.But is /'k??.t?s/ or ['k??.??s] wrong, or is it just an alternative form?
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It is the clinical term. It is from the Latin "co-" and the verb for "to go", to "go together". Anybody with a passing familiarity with Latin, affixes and clinics will use three syllables. The two-syllable form is the product of a misreading by a semi-literate (or a Portuguese
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enoonThe two-syllable form is the product of a misreading by a semi-literate (or a Portuguese).I would call it an adaptation to a language. In Portuguese, the diphthong "oi" is pronounced /oj/, as a syllable, not /o.i/. It would make no sense to keep those sounds separated, just because they are so in Latin. I believe the same thing happens with English.
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MrGuedes In Portuguese, the diphthong "oi" is pronounced /oj/, as a syllable, not /o.i/. It would make no sense to keep those sounds separated, just because they are so in Latin. I believe the same thing happens with English.Yes. They used to use a diaresis (That tripped the spellchecker. Yay!), a mark like an umlaut, in English to denote separate pronunciat
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MrGuedesMy question is: is that correction correct?No. This is an indirect question, not a conditional clause. The correct pattern is
... [don't/doesn't] [care/know] [if /whether] [I/he/she] was ....
CJ
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