I am starting this discussion for those who want to improve their knowledge of grammar. Dear learners! If you have any questions, I'll be glad to answer to them.
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Dear AReality! In that quotation Abraham Lincoln wanted to say he wanted to be unnoticable in the crowd. He was a modest man despite being a president. He really believed people are equal in spite of all differences. He was a great person, a true human being. So, that quotation is not a suggestion. It is an affirmation expressed in such a form
Hi, Areality! Thanks for replying and giving more examples. First of alll, I have to say that one of your examples is incorrect. It is the following:
I'd rather your boyfriend stopped calling you in the middle of the night.(Your boyfriend keeps calling you.)
You are right as to the form of a verb, but if we use Subjunctive, there should be a junction "that":
I'd rather that your boyfriend stopped calling you in the middle of the night.(Your boyfriend keeps calling you.)
As to the question you asked me, it is Subjunctive Present. We use it in subordinate clauses, if a predicate in the main is one of the verbs on the Subjunctive list. I have to admit, it is "very American", so to say. In this case any verb is used in the form of infinitive without "to" for all persons ( I be, he be, He not come). Such a form is usually used in the documents, contracts, etc. For example:
The teacher demanded that all students hand in their compositions tomorrow.
Our partner requred that all documents be signed as soon as possible.
Hi, my friends! Yesterday in the chatroom I was asked to tell about the Subjunctive and Conditional Moods. So, here you are!
Subjunctive Past and Perfect are used to express everything unreal.
Subjunctive Past is used when we speak about the present or the future actions. All verbs except "to be" are used in the form of the Simple Past Tense, i.e., with the ending -ed for the regular verbs (lived, wanted) or in the second form for the irregular verbs (knew, came). The verb "to be" is used only in plural(were) for all persons (I were, he were....).
Subjunctive Perfect is used when we speak about the past actions. All verbs are used in the form of the Past Perfect Tense, i.e., had+past participle, passive(had been, had known). The Subjunctive Mood is used in subordinate clauses.
Here are so called standard constructions. And don't believe those who say that Subjunctive is out of date. All the following constructions are used almost every day as there is no other way to express such thoughts and feelings.
1. as if/ as though
He speaks as if he were a director of the company. (In fact, he is not a director now.)
She behaved as though she had been a queen. (She was not a queen).
2. I wish (expresses one's regret)
I wish I were young! (I am not young and feel sorry for that. Nothing can be chanched)
I wish he hadn't said that (but he said and it is a pity).
3. If only (expresses one's regret very emotionally)
If only he were by my side! (But he is not here now).
If only I had told you the truth (But I didn't).
4. It is (about) time
It is about time we left Italy (but we are still here, we are not leaving).
5. You had better (an advice that sounds like a threat, remember about it! We use it when we don't want to start arguing)
You are sick. You had better stay at home (If I say so, I mean that if you go out and feel worse, I wash my hands! I will not take care of you, I warned you!)
Do you want to go to the bar with your friends? You had better stay at home! (In this case I mean he may not return at all. It sounds like "Get out of my life!")
So, be careful using this expression.
We also use The Subjunctive Mood in the conditional clauses when conditions are unreal.
1. The Unreal Condition in the Present and the Future
If I knew his phone number, I would call him right away (It means that I don't know his number and can't give him a call now).
2. The Unreal Condition in the Past
If it hadn't been so hot yesterday, we would have spent the day outside (It means, it was really very hot yesterday and I spet all the day in the hotel room with the conditioning on at 20 C Smile!).
3. The Mixed Condition. We use such conditional sentences when the reason was in the past and the result is in the present or future.
If I had answered your questions yesterday, I wouldn't have to do it today.
My dear friends! I'd also like you to pay your attention to using English tenses in indirrect speach. If we use tenses incorrectly, we can sometimes offend a person without having any idea about it. I will tell you the story from my personal life. My previous late husband who died in the accident 5 years ago, was a lawyer and could practice both English and French laws and I surely knew about that. One day he told me:"I want that case in New Orleans (French Law)". I replied: "What bothers you? You said you had a degree in French Law".(I just made a mistake and he knew about that). But his reaction was absolutely abnormal. He said;" Darling! I still have it! Nobody took away my diploma! It is still hanging on the wall above your head!" Got it? OK, what I want to say is the following: if you use The Past Tenses in subordinate clauses reporting indirect speech your listeners may think you don't believe in what they said. For them it sounds like Subjunctive, i.e, something unreal. Please, be aware of that!
If you have any questions on this matter, feel free asking. I will gladly answer you all
I have a question with regard to the usage of the verb to convince. According to the grammar its not followed by the infinitive. But Ive heard a lot that they say convince with to. Is it correct? And can convince be replaced with the verb to persuade?
As to your second question, there are some so called "standard shortenings" in English. "I'm" is one of them. So, there is nothing bad to say or write it. On the other hand, I never do it because I am not used to. However, I always say and write "it's". Actually, there is no difference, but I think we should speak English like natives do
Replies
Dear Tanya it is my pleasure to join your group and be your learner, many thanks. would you mind adding me on the skype group, my skype ID raseelrose2
Dear AReality! In that quotation Abraham Lincoln wanted to say he wanted to be unnoticable in the crowd. He was a modest man despite being a president. He really believed people are equal in spite of all differences. He was a great person, a true human being. So, that quotation is not a suggestion. It is an affirmation expressed in such a form
Neither. The correct one is: When you sleep tight
Or when you are sleeping tight. Depends on the main clause
No thanks at all! We are here just to master our English
Hi, Areality! Thanks for replying and giving more examples. First of alll, I have to say that one of your examples is incorrect. It is the following:
I'd rather your boyfriend stopped calling you in the middle of the night.(Your boyfriend keeps calling you.)
You are right as to the form of a verb, but if we use Subjunctive, there should be a junction "that":
I'd rather that your boyfriend stopped calling you in the middle of the night.(Your boyfriend keeps calling you.)
As to the question you asked me, it is Subjunctive Present. We use it in subordinate clauses, if a predicate in the main is one of the verbs on the Subjunctive list. I have to admit, it is "very American", so to say. In this case any verb is used in the form of infinitive without "to" for all persons ( I be, he be, He not come). Such a form is usually used in the documents, contracts, etc. For example:
The teacher demanded that all students hand in their compositions tomorrow.
Our partner requred that all documents be signed as soon as possible.
Have you got that? Ask any questions
I'd like to add the list of verbs followed by Subjunctive Present Clauses. Here it is:
advise
ask
command
decree
demand
insist
order
move
prefer
propose
recommend
request
require
stipulate
suggest
urge
There are also some adjectives and participles used after It is and followed by Subjunctive Present clauses:
advised
important
mandatory
necessary
obligatory
proposed
recommended
required
suggest
urgent
imperative
Here are a few examples:
My boss required that I be there.
It was required that I be there.
My friends! I do know this part of grammar is not easy. So, if you have any questions, I will gladly answer them all.
Hi, my friends! Yesterday in the chatroom I was asked to tell about the Subjunctive and Conditional Moods. So, here you are!
Subjunctive Past and Perfect are used to express everything unreal.
Subjunctive Past is used when we speak about the present or the future actions. All verbs except "to be" are used in the form of the Simple Past Tense, i.e., with the ending -ed for the regular verbs (lived, wanted) or in the second form for the irregular verbs (knew, came). The verb "to be" is used only in plural(were) for all persons (I were, he were....).
Subjunctive Perfect is used when we speak about the past actions. All verbs are used in the form of the Past Perfect Tense, i.e., had+past participle, passive (had been, had known). The Subjunctive Mood is used in subordinate clauses.
Here are so called standard constructions. And don't believe those who say that Subjunctive is out of date. All the following constructions are used almost every day as there is no other way to express such thoughts and feelings.
1. as if/ as though
He speaks as if he were a director of the company. (In fact, he is not a director now.)
She behaved as though she had been a queen. (She was not a queen).
2. I wish (expresses one's regret)
I wish I were young! (I am not young and feel sorry for that. Nothing can be chanched)
I wish he hadn't said that (but he said and it is a pity).
3. If only (expresses one's regret very emotionally)
If only he were by my side! (But he is not here now).
If only I had told you the truth (But I didn't).
4. It is (about) time
It is about time we left Italy (but we are still here, we are not leaving).
5. You had better (an advice that sounds like a threat, remember about it! We use it when we don't want to start arguing)
You are sick. You had better stay at home (If I say so, I mean that if you go out and feel worse, I wash my hands! I will not take care of you, I warned you!)
Do you want to go to the bar with your friends? You had better stay at home! (In this case I mean he may not return at all. It sounds like "Get out of my life!")
So, be careful using this expression.
We also use The Subjunctive Mood in the conditional clauses when conditions are unreal.
1. The Unreal Condition in the Present and the Future
If I knew his phone number, I would call him right away (It means that I don't know his number and can't give him a call now).
2. The Unreal Condition in the Past
If it hadn't been so hot yesterday, we would have spent the day outside (It means, it was really very hot yesterday and I spet all the day in the hotel room with the conditioning on at 20 C Smile!).
3. The Mixed Condition. We use such conditional sentences when the reason was in the past and the result is in the present or future.
If I had answered your questions yesterday, I wouldn't have to do it today.
My dear friends! I'd also like you to pay your attention to using English tenses in indirrect speach. If we use tenses incorrectly, we can sometimes offend a person without having any idea about it. I will tell you the story from my personal life. My previous late husband who died in the accident 5 years ago, was a lawyer and could practice both English and French laws and I surely knew about that. One day he told me:"I want that case in New Orleans (French Law)". I replied: "What bothers you? You said you had a degree in French Law".(I just made a mistake and he knew about that). But his reaction was absolutely abnormal. He said;" Darling! I still have it! Nobody took away my diploma! It is still hanging on the wall above your head!" Got it? OK, what I want to say is the following: if you use The Past Tenses in subordinate clauses reporting indirect speech your listeners may think you don't believe in what they said. For them it sounds like Subjunctive, i.e, something unreal. Please, be aware of that!
If you have any questions on this matter, feel free asking. I will gladly answer you all
I have a question with regard to the usage of the verb to convince. According to the grammar its not followed by the infinitive. But Ive heard a lot that they say convince with to. Is it correct? And can convince be replaced with the verb to persuade?
Dear Rozen! I think, there is no answer. We capitilize "I" because we do it. It is "so English"! You can get some more information here:
http://hotword.dictionary.com/whycapitali/
http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/7986/why-should-the-firs...
As to your second question, there are some so called "standard shortenings" in English. "I'm" is one of them. So, there is nothing bad to say or write it. On the other hand, I never do it because I am not used to. However, I always say and write "it's". Actually, there is no difference, but I think we should speak English like natives do
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