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Ruslana Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
The subjunctive mood
Hi guys,
I've been refreshing my knowledge about the subjunctive mood. Can you please check whether my assumptions are correct?
It is necessary that the letter be sent off today -- OK, used mainly in American English
It is necessary that the letter should be sent off today -- OK, used mainly in British English
It is necessary that the letter is sent off today -- wrong
It is important that he return tomorrow -- OK, used mainly in American English
It is important that he shoud return tomorrow -- OK, used mainly in British English
It is important that he returns tomorrow -- wrong
It is surprising that he should not know it -- OK, 'should' emphasizes the feeling of surprise
It is surprising that he does not know it -- OK
I've been refreshing my knowledge about the subjunctive mood. Can you please check whether my assumptions are correct?
It is necessary that the letter be sent off today -- OK, used mainly in American English
It is necessary that the letter should be sent off today -- OK, used mainly in British English
It is necessary that the letter is sent off today -- wrong
It is important that he return tomorrow -- OK, used mainly in American English
It is important that he shoud return tomorrow -- OK, used mainly in British English
It is important that he returns tomorrow -- wrong
It is surprising that he should not know it -- OK, 'should' emphasizes the feeling of surprise
It is surprising that he does not know it -- OK
Top answer
shtml I think they say that the form with "should" is the most general one, the form with the infinitive is the most formal, and the form with the simple present is the most informal (so all of them are acceptable). That comes from the BBC Learning English service though, so it's definitely about UK English (as far as I know, in America the most common option is the infinitive).
- shtml I think they say that the form with "should" is the most general one, the form with the infinitive is the most formal, and the form with the simple present is the most informal (so all of them are acceptable).
- That comes from the BBC Learning English service though, so it's definitely about UK English (as far as I know, in America the most common option is the infinitive).
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3 Answers
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Hi,
since no "gurus" have answered yet, I just wanted to show you this link, in case you haven't come across it:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv105.shtml
I think they say that the form with "should" is the
since no "gurus" have answered yet, I just wanted to show you this link, in case you haven't come across it:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv105.shtml
I think they say that the form with "should" is the
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RuslanaCan you please check whether my assumptions are correct?Your observations are all right on the money as far as I'm concerned.
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