subjunctive versus indicative

Question

If she was leaving, you would have heard about it. (indicative mood)  If she were leaving, you would have heard about it. (subjunctive mood)  Is there any difference in meaning in the aforesaid moods?

Inchoateknowledge · Accepted Answer

The sentence in indicative mood is false grammatically. However, in  conditional, the verb is used often put in indicative mood in informal  language. (demise of the language)

Cool Breeze · Answer

InchoateknowledgeIf she was leaving, you would have heard about it. (indicative mood)

If she were leaving, you would have heard about it. (subjunctive mood)

Is there any difference in meaning in the aforesaid moods?

In the first sentence, was leaving is a colloquial past subjunctive and many consider it perfectly acceptable in writing as well. I am one of those people. The sentences usually have the same meaning.

Cheers
CB

Anonymous · Answer

If she was leaving, you would have heard about it. (indicative mood)

If she were leaving, you would have heard about it. (subjunctive mood)

These sentences mean the same thing. And...

I don't think "If she were" is the past subjunctive. It's the irrealis. (http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/001192.html)

I wouldn't call it the "past subjunctive" because:

1 it only works with the verb "be". Replace it with another verb, and the simple past is used. For instance "I wish I were taller" is the irrealis, but "I wish I had a million dollars" is the simple past. Miriam, in the discussion about the subjunctive in the archived posts, argues that "had" here is the "past subjunctive", but I disagree - why invent a grammatical distinction where none exists?

2 "if I were" is not the past tense of "if I be"

The irrealis is in free variation with the indicative: "if I were" and "if I was" mean the same thing and both are acceptable.

As for the subjunctive, it seems to me that the indicative is an acceptable alternative.
"They insist that she go with them" and "They insist that she goes with them" - both of these are OK, altho the first might be a more formal register in some communities, I don't know.

Goodman · Answer

If I were / had .......

This has nothing to do with past tense. The indicative mood simply implies something unlikely to happen.

"I wished I were in Paris with you". However, I know that is not going to happen but I wished it did.

If she were the princess, then I were the king. - again past verb to be has no relevance with time.

Anonymous · Answer

My point is that many people say that "were" in these cases is the past subjunctive. I'm saying it's not, for the reasons I already gave.

As for "if I had" (which was not the point of this thread originally, I just brought it up), that is the simple past. "Subjunctive" and "indicative" "simple past", etc are formal grammatical categories. One grammatical category can mean different things depending on context.

"had" in "I wish I had a million dollars" is the simple past. It has exactly the same form as the simple past, it is the simple past. It doesn't have a past tense meaning, but it is the simple past in form.

Goodman · Answer

Got it !<img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/2.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/2.gif' alt='Emotion: big smile'/>

Milky · Answer

<However, in conditional, the verb is used often put in indicative mood in informal language. (demise of the language)>

What a narrowminded view.

subjunctive versus indicative

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions