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Pructus Posted 18 years ago
Grammar
suggest that
The writer suggests that laughter be the best medicine..........................
The sentence above.... Is it correct? If so, what shoud it mean?
And I'd like to know what the native speaker's sense of that sentence is.
The sentence above.... Is it correct? If so, what shoud it mean?
And I'd like to know what the native speaker's sense of that sentence is.
Top answer
Hi Pructus, What you have is a sentence that belongs to a group whose content clause expresses commands, requests, or suggestions. htm ]THE CITY OF [/url]. As you can see, instead of was , the verb is in its base infinitive , be .
- Hi Pructus, What you have is a sentence that belongs to a group whose content clause expresses commands, requests, or suggestions.
- htm ]THE CITY OF [/url].
- As you can see, instead of was , the verb is in its base infinitive , be .
- , subjunctive).
- So we can look at your sentence and paraphrase that: The writer seriously wants to send a message that people who would like to have a healthy life should laugh often.
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6 Answers
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Hi Pructus,
What you have is a sentence that belongs to a group whose content clause expresses commands, requests, or suggestions. This type of clause often uses the present subjunctive mood and follows a group of verbs like: ask, demand, insist, mandate, propose, suggest, recommend, as in:
“City Manager Sasaki suggested that he be given the authority to
What you have is a sentence that belongs to a group whose content clause expresses commands, requests, or suggestions. This type of clause often uses the present subjunctive mood and follows a group of verbs like: ask, demand, insist, mandate, propose, suggest, recommend, as in:
“City Manager Sasaki suggested that he be given the authority to
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pructusThe writer suggests that laughter be the best medicine..The sentence strikes me as anomalous. Without context, the only interpretation that rings true to me is that suggests means offers as a possible truth or, more simply, believes. So the sentence should be The writer suggests that laughter is the best medicine.
CJ
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I agree. The use of the subjunctive is out of place in that sentence.
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Or:
The writer suggests that laughter could be/may be/might be the best medicine for such cases.
The writer suggests that laughter could be/may be/might be the best medicine for such cases.
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Hi Jim and Amy,
You both agree that without context, the sentence does not carry a subjunctive mood. In other words, just by simply reading that stand-alone sentence, you would not take its face value that there is a strong suggestion / recommendation attached along. How about the following sentence with the same pattern / structure?
Tony suggested that Tom be the only choice /
You both agree that without context, the sentence does not carry a subjunctive mood. In other words, just by simply reading that stand-alone sentence, you would not take its face value that there is a strong suggestion / recommendation attached along. How about the following sentence with the same pattern / structure?
Tony suggested that Tom be the only choice /
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