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Anonymous Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

MrPedantic, CalifJim: Past Subjunctive or Indicative

0Hello:02br
00<>Do you feel that:02br
02br
00They had placed a weapon in his hands. He smiled to himself at the thought of their faces when he 01b00explained02b00 the alternatives tomorrow.02br
02br
00 [Tom Sharpe, Porterhouse Blue, p. 54]02br
02br
00is equivalent with:02br
02br
00They had placed a weapon in his hands. He smiled to himself at the thought of their faces when he 01b00would explain/would have explained02b00 the alternatives tomorrow.02br
02br
00or not? 02br
02br
00 And, as a result, do you feel that the 01b00explained02b00 in the original is an indicative or a past subjunctive, where the past subjunctive is practically identical with the past indicative, expect for 01b00be02b00, where it is 01b00were02b00:02br
01h2

02h2

02br
00Past subjunctive02br
02br
00 I owned02br
00 he/she/it owned02br
00 we/you/they owned02br
02br
00 Subjunctive mood01h2

02h2

00=== 02br
00Thank you. 0240
  

Top answer

0 Wanted to say:02br 00 And, as a result, do you feel that the 01b 00"explained00"02b 00 in the original is an indicative or a past subjunctive, where the past subjunctive is practically identical with the past indicative, except for 01b 00"be02b 00"00, where it is 01b 00"were"02b 00:0-

  • 0 Wanted to say:02br 00 And, as a result, do you feel that the 01b 00"explained00"02b 00 in the original is an indicative or a past subjunctive, where the past subjunctive is practically identical with the past indicative, except for 01b 00"be02b 00"00, where it is 01b 00"were"02b 00:0-
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5 Answers
0
0 Wanted to say:02br
00 And, as a result, do you feel that the 01b00"explained00"02b00 in the original is an indicative or a past subjunctive, where the past subjunctive is practically identical with the past indicative, except for 01b00"be02b00"00, where it is 01b00"were"02b00:0-
0
0 Up a bump ... Thanks. 0-
0
0 It certainly can't be indicative in meaning. It combines a past tense (01i00explained02i00) with future time (01i00tomorrow02i00). Clearly the reference is to something hypothetical -- something in the imagination of the character in the story regarding what was (hypothetically) going to happen the next day. Your use of 01i00would
0
0 I would agree with CJ. It's "past indicative" in form, but "past subjunctive" in sense. (In older forms of English, there were some differences between them; but they have now converged.)02br
02br
00MrP 0-
0
0 Thank you very much to both of you. 0-

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