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Eladio Posted 22 years ago
Grammar
This makes me crazy
Subjunctive Mood makes me crazy. Could you tell me if these sentences are grammatically correct? I WILL EXPECT ANSWERS FROM NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS. I’m a native Spanish speaker, so if anyone of you is a bilingual English-Spanish speaker you can find these sentences written also in Spanish. I will appreciate all your comments about subjunctive or any other comments.
1.- I wish that you don’t be late to the airport. (Deseo que no llegues tarde al aeropuerto).
2.- It’s necessary that you don’t be late home tomorrow. (Es necesario que no llegues tarde a casa mañana).
3.- It’s not certain that John is going to Madrid in the summer. (No es cierto que John vaya a Madrid en el verano).
4.- I won’t fire him, provided that he come right now. (No lo despediré a condición de que venga ahora mismo).
5.- Well, whenever it is not late to do it. (Bueno, siempre que no sea tarde para hacerlo).
6.- Our decision is that the school remain closed. (Nuestra decision es que la escuela permanezca cerrada).
7.- Unless you take a taxi now, you’ll loss your plane. (A menos que tome un taxi ahora, perderá su avión).
8.- Unless he come right now, I’ll fire him. (A menos de que venga ahora mismo, lo despediré).
9.- When I am a grown-up, I will be a pilot. (Cuando sea un adulto, seré piloto) (Cuando sea grande, seré piloto).
10.- When I be a grown-up I will be a pilot. (Cuando sea un adulto, seré piloto) (Cuando sea grande, seré piloto).
11.- If only (I; You; She; He; It; We; They) would write. (Ojalá pudiera escribir).
12.- If only (I; You; She; He; It; We; They) could write. (Ojalá pudiera escribir).
13.- Hopefully (I; You; She; He; It; We; They) could write. (Ojalá pudiera escribir).
14.- God willing I could write. (Ojalá pudiera escribir).
15.- I wish that I could write. (Ojalá pudiera escribir).
16.- I wish that I can write. (Ojalá pueda escribir).
17.- It is important that they not stay there. (Es importante que ellos no se queden allí).
18.- It is important that they do not stay there. (Es importante que ellos no se queden allí).
I have read that the subjunctive mood is little used in spoken English. Are above sentences spoken English's inappropriate sentences?
Thank you in advance!
1.- I wish that you don’t be late to the airport. (Deseo que no llegues tarde al aeropuerto).
2.- It’s necessary that you don’t be late home tomorrow. (Es necesario que no llegues tarde a casa mañana).
3.- It’s not certain that John is going to Madrid in the summer. (No es cierto que John vaya a Madrid en el verano).
4.- I won’t fire him, provided that he come right now. (No lo despediré a condición de que venga ahora mismo).
5.- Well, whenever it is not late to do it. (Bueno, siempre que no sea tarde para hacerlo).
6.- Our decision is that the school remain closed. (Nuestra decision es que la escuela permanezca cerrada).
7.- Unless you take a taxi now, you’ll loss your plane. (A menos que tome un taxi ahora, perderá su avión).
8.- Unless he come right now, I’ll fire him. (A menos de que venga ahora mismo, lo despediré).
9.- When I am a grown-up, I will be a pilot. (Cuando sea un adulto, seré piloto) (Cuando sea grande, seré piloto).
10.- When I be a grown-up I will be a pilot. (Cuando sea un adulto, seré piloto) (Cuando sea grande, seré piloto).
11.- If only (I; You; She; He; It; We; They) would write. (Ojalá pudiera escribir).
12.- If only (I; You; She; He; It; We; They) could write. (Ojalá pudiera escribir).
13.- Hopefully (I; You; She; He; It; We; They) could write. (Ojalá pudiera escribir).
14.- God willing I could write. (Ojalá pudiera escribir).
15.- I wish that I could write. (Ojalá pudiera escribir).
16.- I wish that I can write. (Ojalá pueda escribir).
17.- It is important that they not stay there. (Es importante que ellos no se queden allí).
18.- It is important that they do not stay there. (Es importante que ellos no se queden allí).
I have read that the subjunctive mood is little used in spoken English. Are above sentences spoken English's inappropriate sentences?
Thank you in advance!
Top answer
Hi Eladio, I hope you accept my opinions as a native British English speaker. Incidentally, I found your shouted command 'I WILL EXPECT ANSWERS FROM NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS' a little rude, it might have been better to put 'Please can I have some comments from native speakers? The subjunctive mood is used when we are talking about something that is not an actual fact.
- Hi Eladio, I hope you accept my opinions as a native British English speaker.
- Incidentally, I found your shouted command 'I WILL EXPECT ANSWERS FROM NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS' a little rude, it might have been better to put 'Please can I have some comments from native speakers?
- The subjunctive mood is used when we are talking about something that is not an actual fact.
- 'If I were a footballer I would earn lots of money' is subjunctive as I am not a footballer (although they may earn lots of money).
- 'Footballers earn lots of money' is not a subjunctive.
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9 Answers
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Hi Eladio,
I hope you accept my opinions as a native British English speaker. Incidentally, I found your shouted command 'I WILL EXPECT ANSWERS FROM NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS' a little rude, it might have been better to put 'Please can I have some comments from native speakers?
The subjunctive mood is used when we are talking about something that is not an actual fact. 'If I w
I hope you accept my opinions as a native British English speaker. Incidentally, I found your shouted command 'I WILL EXPECT ANSWERS FROM NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS' a little rude, it might have been better to put 'Please can I have some comments from native speakers?
The subjunctive mood is used when we are talking about something that is not an actual fact. 'If I w
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Hi Nona the brit,
I apologize if I was rude. It was not my intention. It's a consequence of my bad English.
I appreciate your reply but I have found some similar sentences (as those I posted in my first email) in some Grammar English Books and they appear to be written in Subjunctive Mood. By using your words: Please, can I have some comments from native speakers (and again from you!) a
I apologize if I was rude. It was not my intention. It's a consequence of my bad English.
I appreciate your reply but I have found some similar sentences (as those I posted in my first email) in some Grammar English Books and they appear to be written in Subjunctive Mood. By using your words: Please, can I have some comments from native speakers (and again from you!) a
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(4), ( 6 ) and (17) seem subjunctive to me. Some of the others are indicative; but many are not proper English sentences (1, 2, 5, 8, 10, 14, 16).
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It's true that you have used a subjunctive in some of your sentences, e.g. (8). Such sentences will therefore resemble examples of the English subjunctive. However, you have used them in contexts where it isn't idiomatic to use a subjunctive in English.
You should take particular care when translating Spanish idioms that contain 'que + subjunctive'. In some cases, the 'que + subjunctive
You should take particular care when translating Spanish idioms that contain 'que + subjunctive'. In some cases, the 'que + subjunctive
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Oh, poorrichard and Mister Micawber, thank you so much! Anyway I have four questions. Please, help me again:
1.- If I modify a bit the sentence (5) and write: “Well, if it is not late to do it… I’ll do it”, is it correct?
2.- Is the following sentence correct (you did not refer to it)?
(7) Unless you take a taxi now, you’ll loss your plane. (A menos que tome un taxi ahora, perder
1.- If I modify a bit the sentence (5) and write: “Well, if it is not late to do it… I’ll do it”, is it correct?
2.- Is the following sentence correct (you did not refer to it)?
(7) Unless you take a taxi now, you’ll loss your plane. (A menos que tome un taxi ahora, perder
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Hmmm, seems I have a few things to learn about subjunctives too! sTill, I can help out with the idiomatic English.
Unless you take a taxi now, you'll miss (not loss) your plane.
3) In most circumstances I would say If only...could write.
Hopefully and I wish that ..could write might be appropriate in some contexts.
If only I could write Spanish.
I wi
Unless you take a taxi now, you'll miss (not loss) your plane.
3) In most circumstances I would say If only...could write.
Hopefully and I wish that ..could write might be appropriate in some contexts.
If only I could write Spanish.
I wi
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In answer to your question about the original sentence (5), yes, your modification gets the sense.
You could also say: "Fine, as long as it's not too late to do it".
You could also say: "Fine, as long as it's not too late to do it".
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I REALLY WANT TO THANK EnglishForward, THEIR ORGANIZERS AND PARTICIPANTS FOR THE EXCELLENT TOOL THEY HAVE DEVELOPED ON INTERNET. I HAVE BEEN USING IT FOR MONTHS AND I HAVE LEARNED FROM ALL OF YOU. THANK YOU, AND CONTINUE WITH THIS TASK!
Eladio
Eladio
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