Anonymous Posted 18 years ago
Grammar
MrPedantic, CalifJim: Past Subjunctive or Indicative
0 Hello: 02 br
00 <>Do you feel that: 02 br
02 br
00 They had placed a weapon in his hands. He smiled to himself at the thought of their faces when he 01 b 00 explained 02 b 00 the alternatives tomorrow. 02 br
02 br
00 [Tom Sharpe, Porterhouse Blue, p. 54] 02 br
02 br
00 is equivalent with: 02 br
02 br
00 They had placed a weapon in his hands. He smiled to himself at the thought of their faces when he 01 b 00 would explain/would have explained 02 b 00 the alternatives tomorrow. 02 br
02 br
00 or not? 02 br
02 br
00 And, as a result, do you feel that the 01 b 00 explained 02 b 00 in the original is an indicative or a past subjunctive, where the past subjunctive is practically identical with the past indicative, expect for 01 b 00 be 02 b 00 , where it is 01 b 00 were 02 b 00 : 02 br
01 h2
00 Past subjunctive 02 br
02 br
00 I owned 02 br
00 he/she/it owned 02 br
00 we/you/they owned 02 br
02 br
00 Subjunctive mood 01 h2
00 Thank you. 0240
00 <>Do you feel that: 02 br
02 br
00 They had placed a weapon in his hands. He smiled to himself at the thought of their faces when he 01 b 00 explained 02 b 00 the alternatives tomorrow. 02 br
02 br
00 [Tom Sharpe, Porterhouse Blue, p. 54] 02 br
02 br
00 is equivalent with: 02 br
02 br
00 They had placed a weapon in his hands. He smiled to himself at the thought of their faces when he 01 b 00 would explain/would have explained 02 b 00 the alternatives tomorrow. 02 br
02 br
00 or not? 02 br
02 br
00 And, as a result, do you feel that the 01 b 00 explained 02 b 00 in the original is an indicative or a past subjunctive, where the past subjunctive is practically identical with the past indicative, expect for 01 b 00 be 02 b 00 , where it is 01 b 00 were 02 b 00 : 02 br
01 h2
02 h2
02 br00 Past subjunctive 02 br
02 br
00 I owned 02 br
00 he/she/it owned 02 br
00 we/you/they owned 02 br
02 br
00 Subjunctive mood 01 h2
02 h2
00 === 02 br00 Thank you. 0240
Top answer
0 Wanted to say: 02 br 00 And, as a result, do you feel that the 01 b 00 "explained 00 " 02 b 00 in the original is an indicative or a past subjunctive, where the past subjunctive is practically identical with the past indicative, except for 01 b 00 "be 02 b 00 " 00 , where it is 01 b 00 "were" 02 b 00 : 0-
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0
0 Wanted to say: 02 br
00 And, as a result, do you feel that the 01 b 00 "explained 00 " 02 b 00 in the original is an indicative or a past subjunctive, where the past subjunctive is practically identical with the past indicative, except for 01 b 00 "be 02 b 00 " 00 , where it is 01 b 00 "were" 02 b 00 : 0-
00 And, as a result, do you feel that the 01 b 00 "explained 00 " 02 b 00 in the original is an indicative or a past subjunctive, where the past subjunctive is practically identical with the past indicative, except for 01 b 00 "be 02 b 00 " 00 , where it is 01 b 00 "were" 02 b 00 : 0-
00
0
0 It certainly can't be indicative in meaning. It combines a past tense ( 01 i 00 explained 02 i 00 ) with future time ( 01 i 00 tomorrow 02 i 00 ). Clearly the reference is to something hypothetical -- something in the imagination of the character in the story regarding what was (hypothetically) going to happen the next day. Your use of 01 i 00 would
00
0 I would agree with CJ. It's "past indicative" in form, but "past subjunctive" in sense. (In older forms of English, there were some differences between them; but they have now converged.) 02 br
02 br
00 MrP 0-
02 br
00 MrP 0-
00