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Ticce Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

Indicative or Subjunctive

Does this sentence recite the fact or does it not?

It is strange that he should have got involved in the fight.

(It is subjuntive but it seems that it conveys a fact while it shouldn't)
  

Top answer

Should is common in sentences beginning It is / was strange that... According to some grammarians should makes the statement appear more personal. CB

— Cool Breeze

  • Should is common in sentences beginning It is / was strange that...
  • According to some grammarians should makes the statement appear more personal.
  • CB
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9 Answers
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Should is common in sentences beginning It is / was strange that... According to some grammarians should makes the statement appear more personal.

CB
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What do you mean saying more personal?
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If you heard this sentence would you think that he really got into fight or that it was unlikely for him to get into the fight?

"It is strange that he should have got involved in the fight."
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Does this sentence recite the fact or does it not?
It is strange that he should have got involved in the fight.
(It is subjunctive but it seems that it conveys a fact while it shouldn't)

It is not subjunctive; it is the 'putative should', which is, as here, used merely for open conditions. It does indeed comment on what is presumably a past fact: he
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It is an interesting definition
Mister Micawberpresumably a past fact
which means that it is not a fact but MAYBE a fact...... looks like subjunctive........

I don't say that I know better than Mister Micawber but this "putative should" resembles subjunctive very much.
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I have found an interesting thread where Mister Micawber says

Putative' means 'supposed, alleged' and the linguistic term 'putative should' refers to the (primarily BrE) use of 'should' as an alternative to the mandative subjunctive:

c. The children insisted that she should see the elephant.

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TicceIt is strange that he should have got involved in the fight.
It's a bit like this:

With the "should have" we emphasize the idea that his actions were contrary to our expectations about his usual behavior -- almost like saying that it's strange that he would have wanted to get involved in the first place.

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CalifJimWith the "should have" we emphasize the idea that his actions were contrary to our expectations about his usual behavior
Then it is a fact and should is a modal verb here with perfect infinitive, isn't it?
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Ticceshould is a modal verb here
Indeed it is. Not just here, but always. should is a modal verb. When a modal is followed by have and a past participle it can be thought of as a modal verb with a perfect infinitive. Yes, that's correct.
Ticceit is a fact
He really did get involved in the fight, if that's w
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