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Guest Posted 21 years ago
Linguistics Studies

Subjunctive? Please help with error correction

0 Dear all, 02br
00this is a question that appeared in one of the major entrance exams in Taiwan. Some expert help is needed here. 02br
02br
02br
00Jeff (had) always (been thinking) he (would become) a doctor, but his parents (wanted) him to study law instead of medicine. 02br
00(a) had 02br
00(b) been thinking 02br
00(c) would become 02br
00(d) wanted 02br
02br
00which one out of the four is incorrect? the official answer is C, but I don't quite understand why it's not B. 02br
02br
00Is this subjunctive mood?? 02br
02br
00Thank you all 0-
  

Top answer

0 Hi Guest, 02br 02br 00Why do you think that the answer should have been B, may I ask? What word/s would you use instead of "been thinking"? If you used "thought", the sentence would be LOGICALLY incorrect.

— Temico

  • 0 Hi Guest, 02br 02br 00Why do you think that the answer should have been B, may I ask?
  • What word/s would you use instead of "been thinking"?
  • If you used "thought", the sentence would be LOGICALLY incorrect.
  • 02br 02br 00I believe that there is something wrong with the original sentence and should be changed to:- 02br 02br 00"Jeff (had) always (been thinking) OF (would become) a doctor, but his parents (wanted) him to study law instead of medicine.
  • " 02br 02br 00FYI, I am only a student so I can still be wrong.
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22 Answers
0
0 Hi Guest, 02br
02br
00Why do you think that the answer should have been B, may I ask? What word/s would you use instead of "been thinking"? If you used "thought", the sentence would be LOGICALLY incorrect. 02br
02br
00I believe that there is something wrong with the original sentence and should be changed to:- 02br
02br
00"Jeff (had
0
0
0Not subjunctive, just an exercise in using the past perfect. Frankly, I can see no error as it stands. 0-
0
0
0 then can we use past perfect without the progressive? 02br
00 "Jeff had always thought he would become..." what would be the difference here? 0-
0
0
0 Hello Tweng 02br
02br
00Your question is very subtle. 02br
02br
00 [1] "Jeff had always thought he would become a doctor" 02br
00 ="Jeff had always planned to become a doctor" 02br
00 [2]"Jeff had always been thinking (01b00whether02b00) he became a doctor or not" 02br
00 ="Jeff had alw
0
0
0 To tweng, 02br
02br
00If you use "thought", the sentence would become:- 02br
02br
00"Jeff had always THOUGHT he would become a doctor, but his parents wanted him to study law instead of medicine." 02br
02br
00Compare the following sentences with the one above, 02br
02br
00a) Jeff had always THOUGHT he would become
0
0
0"I had always thought of going to the moon." 02br
02br
00Does the above sentence mean, "I had always planned to go to the moon"? 02br
02br
00Another example:- 02br
02br
00"Jeff had always thought of kissing Mary" doesn't necessarily mean that "Jeff had always planned to kiss Mary." Or does it?? 0-
0
0
0 Hello Temico 02br
02br
00"Think that will/would .." is a bit diffrent from "think of ~". It is also a bit diffferent from "be thinking wh-word indicative mood". Please don't take them all as the same. 02br
02br
00paco 0-
0
0
0 "always thought" is much better than "always been thinking" - though they both have the same meaning. 02br
02br
00So I'm not sure that the original sentence is incorrect, but I would select B, even though the sentence then sounds strange, as if the parents are strict and arbitrary devils. 02br
02br
00I don't see how changing C is going to help us. 0-
0
0
0 I think "be thinking" is to be used in a sense like "think and think over some question". Just "think" is enough if we want to mean "intend" or "hope". 02br
02br
00paco 0-
0
0
0 It says "always been thinking", so it can't have the meaning "to consider for a while". 02br
02br
00Perhaps "thought" sounds more certain, but that doesn't matter here. 0-
0

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