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Anonymous Posted 21 years ago
Vocabulary
"God bless you" but "God knows"
Why do we say "God bless you" (or "God forbid") when God is singular? Don't we treat God as singular when we say "God knows"? Come to think of it, do we always treat God as a singular noun?
Top answer
not sure but I think *** bless you or *** save the Queen! are fixed expressions using subjunctive.
- not sure but I think *** bless you or *** save the Queen!
- are fixed expressions using subjunctive.
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4 Answers
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not sure but I think *** bless you or *** save the Queen! are fixed expressions using subjunctive.
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Yes, that's my understanding too.
Cf. "Long live the King!", i.e. "may the King live long!"
MrP
Cf. "Long live the King!", i.e. "may the King live long!"
MrP
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Hi,
If I may add a note, we say (May) *** bless you as a hope, a possibility. We say (Only) *** knows as a fact, the idea being that *** knows everything.
Best wishes, Clive
If I may add a note, we say (May) *** bless you as a hope, a possibility. We say (Only) *** knows as a fact, the idea being that *** knows everything.
Best wishes, Clive
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