I'm in a Subjunctive Mood

[Vincent A. Maeder]

http://www.ceafinney.com/subjunctive/index.html

God save the subjunctive !


What ?

Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary defines subjunctive as:
1.	adj. 2. in grammar, designating or of that mood of a verb used to express
condition, hypothesis, contingency, possibility, etc., rather than to state
an actual fact: distinguished from imperative, indicative.
2.	n. a verb in the subjunctive mood; specifically, the subjunctive mood.
Few things annoy me more than to hear, "If I was you ..." Most who actually
know that there exists a verbal mood called the subjunctive agree that it
appears to be vanishing in common usage. Earlier in the twentieth century,
grammarians and linguists proclaimed the subjunctive's death and argued that
this was no big loss, as its historical role in English had been weak and
inconsistent; some even went so far as to say that in Modern English its
usage is "pretentious". The fools ! The subjunctive mood is a beautiful and
valuable component of the English language, and instead of dying out, it
actually is enjoying a subtle revival.

The subjunctive is alive and well

I keep a list, "Examples of the subjunctive mood in English"
<http://www.ceafinney.com/subjunctive/examples.html> , which you are
encouraged to visit. I hope that although some "experts" may dismiss the
subjunctive as vanishing, my list of examples will show that the subjunctive
is alive and well in Modern English and deserves its rightful and necessary
place among the other verbal moods. The argument, albeit somewhat true, that
English is a living, dynamic language and that therefore the subjunctive
should be allowed to die should not be furthered as an excuse for incomplete
or sloven education.

For more information

Finney C E A (1999-2000). Examples of the subjunctive mood in English
<http://www.ceafinney.com/subjunctive/examples.html> .
Harsh W (1968). The subjunctive in English (University, Alabama: University
of Alabama Press).
James F (1986). Semantics of the English subjunctive (Vancouver: University
of British Columbia Press, ISBN 0-7748-0255-3).
Khlebnikova I B (1976). The conjunctive mood in English (The Hague: Mouton &
Company, ISBN 90-2793-404-5).
Miscellaneous. The English subjunctive: scholarly opinions
<http://www.ceafinney.com/subjunctive/excerpts.html> .
Övergaard G (1995). The mandative subjunctive in American and British
English in the 20th century (Uppsala: University of Uppsala, ISBN
91-554-3675-5).