Grammar
(1) The form of Subjunctive I in Modern British English is mostly used in poetry and official documents. In colloquial speech the analytical form of Subjunctive I prevails.
In American English the synthetical form of Subjunctive I is colloquial.
Read more »
- Conditional Mood Examples In Proverbs And Quotations
Conditional and Subjunctive Mood Examples in Proverbs, Quotations and Rhymes 1. Comment on the use of the Conditional Mood in complex sentences expressing unreal condition in the following proverbs and sayings. If wishes were horses, beggars...
- Modal Phrases (had Better And Would Rather)
Semi-modal multi-word constructions 'had better' and 'would rather' are followed by the infinitive without to. Examples: We had better go into the house because it is raining. I can come today but I would rather come tomorrow. Had...
- Both A Borrower And A Lender Be
I have written an article on word formation processes in the past and the topic has been always close to my heart. I recently tried to do a little research on borrowings and particularly English borrowings in the Polish language. Although I haven’t...
- Subjunctive Were Revisited (again)
First Joan Osborne and now Ed Miliband. What, you might ask, have the singer Joan Osborne and the leader of the British Labour Party, Ed Miliband, in common? The answer is that they've both been criticised for using was instead of were in unreal...
- Exploring Grammar - The Subjunctive
You will occasionally hear or read about the Subjunctive, although in British English (BrE) we don't use it very often. And because we don't use it much, I sometimes wonder if we actually know what its forms are. I'm being disingenuous...
Grammar
The Oblique Moods
The Formation of the Oblique Moods
Subjunctive I
| Synthetical form (1) | Analytical form | |
|---|---|---|
| Present | I (he, she, we, you, they) be, have, speak | I (he, she, we, you, they) should be, should have, should speak. |
| Past | --- | I (he, she, we, you, they) should have been, should have had, should have spoken. |
(1) The form of Subjunctive I in Modern British English is mostly used in poetry and official documents. In colloquial speech the analytical form of Subjunctive I prevails.
In American English the synthetical form of Subjunctive I is colloquial.
Read more »
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- Conditional Mood Examples In Proverbs And Quotations
Conditional and Subjunctive Mood Examples in Proverbs, Quotations and Rhymes 1. Comment on the use of the Conditional Mood in complex sentences expressing unreal condition in the following proverbs and sayings. If wishes were horses, beggars...
- Modal Phrases (had Better And Would Rather)
Semi-modal multi-word constructions 'had better' and 'would rather' are followed by the infinitive without to. Examples: We had better go into the house because it is raining. I can come today but I would rather come tomorrow. Had...
- Both A Borrower And A Lender Be
I have written an article on word formation processes in the past and the topic has been always close to my heart. I recently tried to do a little research on borrowings and particularly English borrowings in the Polish language. Although I haven’t...
- Subjunctive Were Revisited (again)
First Joan Osborne and now Ed Miliband. What, you might ask, have the singer Joan Osborne and the leader of the British Labour Party, Ed Miliband, in common? The answer is that they've both been criticised for using was instead of were in unreal...
- Exploring Grammar - The Subjunctive
You will occasionally hear or read about the Subjunctive, although in British English (BrE) we don't use it very often. And because we don't use it much, I sometimes wonder if we actually know what its forms are. I'm being disingenuous...