On Thu, Mar 6, 2008 at 11:40 AM, Wade Curry <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The thing that I /do/ think we are losing is the subjunctive. Few > people use it at all any more. You can hear people commonly say > things like, "if it was raining, we'd get wet." With the > subjunctive it would be: "if it *were* raining, we'd get wet." > Another common use of subjunctive shows up in old oaths that are > still in use, like: "till death do us part". I don't hear it used > this way at all in speech.
"Was if it is, were if it isn't." e.g.: (referring to an event that actually happened) If he was out in the rain, he should have worn a raincoat. (referring to an event that could happen, but didn't) If he were out in the rain, he would have worn a raincoat. "Should" and "would" are both subjunctive constructs here as well. -- Brad Beyenhof http://augmentedfourth.com I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use. ~ Galileo Galilei, astronomer and physicist (1564-1642) -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
