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Anonymous Posted 6 years ago
Grammar

Question about subjunctive mood

Hi. In a story I'm writing a bad guy says this:

I think I would kill myself if I was/were disabled like you.

Elsewhere in the story I write this, which is not a piece of dialog:

He smiles as if it was/were a compliment.

Questions:

  1. Is it examples of subjunctive mood in both sentences?

  2. In the first sentence (the piece of dialog) the bad guy would probably use "was", but would it be okay do you think to use "were" in the second sentence then?

  3. If the first sentence was "I think I would have killed myself..." instead, what would be natural then "...if I was disabled like you." or "...if I had been disabled like you."?

Thank you.

  

Top answer

anonymous Is it examples of subjunctive mood in both sentences? Yes, but people hardly ever mention "the subjunctive" anymore these days. We just say that in an if -clause we can optionally substitute 'were' for 'was', and that this is usually done in more formal writing.

— CalifJim

  • anonymous Is it examples of subjunctive mood in both sentences?
  • Yes, but people hardly ever mention "the subjunctive" anymore these days.
  • We just say that in an if -clause we can optionally substitute 'were' for 'was', and that this is usually done in more formal writing.
  • anonymous In the first sentence (the piece of dialog) the bad guy would probably use "was", but would it be okay do you think to use "were" in the second sentence then?
  • Yes.
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3 Answers
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anonymousIs it examples of subjunctive mood in both sentences?

Yes, but people hardly ever mention "the subjunctive" anymore these days. We just say that in an if-clause we can optionally substitute 'were' for 'was', and that this is usually done in more formal writing.

anonymousIn the first sentence (the piece of dialog)
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Both are potentially subjunctive mood, but I would only use it if you're being formal. In the first sentence, I doubt it would be said. Stick with the more natural 'was'. The second, being said in a more formal way, could have 'were' but nobody except a real pedant would say you actually NEED the subjunctive 'were'. Very few people in the UK ever use it in conversation.

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anonymousHe smiles as if it was/were a compliment.

The tenses clash is you use "was" with "smiles", not literally but stylistically. Anyway, the subjunctive is much more alive in the US than in the UK. I would be tempted to rewrite to avoid the problem, but "were" is better for me as it stands.

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