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Taka Posted 19 years ago
Grammar
if
Eight-year-old Jimmy comes to school and on his face is the clear mark of a hand.
"Where did you get that mark, Jimmy?" asks his teacher.
"My mom hit me," answers Jimmy.
Sixty years ago, the teacher might well have replied, "I'll bet you deserved it." Today, by law, in every state of America, the teacher must report such an incident to local child-abuse authorities. At the heart of the revolution in child raising is the fact that the more severe forms of punishment, such as hard slaps across the face, are now considered unacceptable. Parents and psychologists got the idea that if real fear and harsh punishment were removed from child training, children would develop into better happier and kinder adults.
This was an important and wonderful and correct idea.
About the part in red, is it the subjunctive mood, or the simple past?
"Where did you get that mark, Jimmy?" asks his teacher.
"My mom hit me," answers Jimmy.
Sixty years ago, the teacher might well have replied, "I'll bet you deserved it." Today, by law, in every state of America, the teacher must report such an incident to local child-abuse authorities. At the heart of the revolution in child raising is the fact that the more severe forms of punishment, such as hard slaps across the face, are now considered unacceptable. Parents and psychologists got the idea that if real fear and harsh punishment were removed from child training, children would develop into better happier and kinder adults.
This was an important and wonderful and correct idea.
About the part in red, is it the subjunctive mood, or the simple past?
Top answer
Taka Eight-year-old Jimmy comes to school and on his face is the clear mark of a hand. if real fear and harsh punishment were removed from child training, children would develop into better happier and kinder adults. About the part in red, is it the subjunctive mood, or the simple past?
- Taka Eight-year-old Jimmy comes to school and on his face is the clear mark of a hand.
- if real fear and harsh punishment were removed from child training, children would develop into better happier and kinder adults.
- About the part in red, is it the subjunctive mood, or the simple past?
- Hi, What you have here could be either 'subjunctive were ’ or 'indicative were ’ (note for the ‘and’ in the subject phrase before ‘were’).
- My guess is the author uses the indicative ‘were’.
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41 Answers
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Taka Eight-year-old Jimmy comes to school and on his face is the clear mark of a hand.Hi,
if real fear and harsh punishment were removed from child training, children would develop into better happier and kinder adults.
About the part in red, is it the subjunctive mood, or the simple past?
W
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Hi Taka
Were removed is a passive past subjunctive and would develop is an active present conditional.
CB
Were removed is a passive past subjunctive and would develop is an active present conditional.
CB
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TakaSo, we have two different answers already. Hmm...That's not true! I wrote earlier that it could be either! One cannot actually tell from the sentence because the 'and' is in the subjective phrase.
Take a look at these:
1. "If I were a man, I would dress like my father" -
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Hoa ThaiTakaSo, we have two different answers already. Hmm...That's not true! I wrote earlier that it could be either! One cannot actually tell from the sentence because the 'and' is in the subjective phrase.
Take a look at these:
1. "If I were a man, I would
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"Tell me Hoa Thai, what makes you guess so?"
Hi again,
Did you read the extract that I sent along in my first post?
Hi again,
Did you read the extract that I sent along in my first post?
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It's definitely subjunctive mood. But it's not easy.
Were can work to create the hypothetical in contexts in which the main verb (understand/comprehend/got in my modified examples) is either present and past:
a) Parents and psychologists understand/comprehend/get the idea that if real fear and harsh punishment were removed from child training, childre
Were can work to create the hypothetical in contexts in which the main verb (understand/comprehend/got in my modified examples) is either present and past:
a) Parents and psychologists understand/comprehend/get the idea that if real fear and harsh punishment were removed from child training, childre
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Hoa Thai"Tell me Hoa Thai, what makes you guess so?"
Hi again,
Did you read the extract that I sent along in my first post?
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Marius Hancu b) Parents and psychologists understood/comprehended/got the idea that if real fear and harsh punishment were removed from child training, children would develop
into better happier and kinder adults.
Now, in b), "if the fear were removed" can be thought of being something valid/attempted at the time in the past
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"Yes, I did. But I don't know how it is related to your guess that it's, if anything, the indicative 'were'."
Hi,
Read it again, and you should find that, according to American Heritage, subjunctive were is hardly used now-a-days.
If you rather see me show it again, here it is:
" .... over the last 200 years even well-respected writers have tended to use the indic
Hi,
Read it again, and you should find that, according to American Heritage, subjunctive were is hardly used now-a-days.
If you rather see me show it again, here it is:
" .... over the last 200 years even well-respected writers have tended to use the indic
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