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Anonymous Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

Subjunctive

I shouldn't wonder if it didn't rain today.

Is didn't rain a subjunctive in the above?
  

Top answer

Regardless, the sentence is illogical. What is no doubt meant is I shouldn't wonder if it rained today .

— GPY

  • Regardless, the sentence is illogical.
  • What is no doubt meant is I shouldn't wonder if it rained today .
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11 Answers
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Regardless, the sentence is illogical. What is no doubt meant is I shouldn't wonder if it rained today.
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GPYRegardless, the sentence is illogical. What is no doubt meant is I shouldn't wonder if it rained today.
It's from the entry about double negatives: "...A third case, illustrated by I shouldn't wonder if it didn't rain today, has the force of a weak positive statement (I expect it to rain today) and is common in informal English. [Collin
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Anonymousand is common in informal English
A common error, maybe.
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AnonymousIs didn't rain a subjunctive in the above?
Conceptually, yes, but actually, it's a moot point because the indicative is "didn't rain", and the subjunctive is "didn't rain". Nothing crucial hinges on whether it's subjunctive or not. If you translate it into a language which has more robust grammatical machinery for subjunctive forms, you would probab
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GPYRegardless, the sentence is illogical.
Hmm. I thought it was fairly well known that "wonder if" allows a pleonastic negative in English. We certainly use it in American English.

It took me less than five minutes to find these on fraze.it.

I wonder if those scenes didn't make Joan's predicament seem even more poignant.
I just wonder i
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CalifJimI wonder if those scenes didn't make Joan's predicament seem even more poignant.I just wonder if that week didn't strip them of some confidence.I wonder if these matches didn't exact a psychological cost.I sometimes wonder if perhaps they didn't have the benefit of getting a good dollop of rejection early on.I wondered how you chose them when I read it, and now I
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GPYThe original sentence is "I shouldn't wonder if it didn't rain today".
Hmm. Even considering the "shouldn't - didn't" combination, it still strikes me the same way. And even considering your paraphrase, I still hear it with the same meaning.

I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't rain today ~ It looks like it's going to rain today.
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CalifJim I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't rain today
But couldn't this be also interpreted as

I would be surprised if it rained today. (= I expect it not to rain today.)
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IvanhrBut couldn't this be also interpreted as
Yes. It's stress dependent. See my previous post.

It may seem strange to English speakers in different parts of the world, but I'm sure that amusing exchange I wrote there would be understood quite well in my part of the world.

CJ
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CalifJimIt may seem strange to English speakers in different parts of the world, but I'm sure that amusing exchange I wrote there would be understood quite well in my part of the world.
I wouldn't be surprised if some people didn't understand it, but I wouldn't be surprised if some people didn't understand it.

The 'illogical' double nega
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