Should we say that the subjunctive is disappearing or that it is
changing. It seems to me that "was" is not being used in its usual
meaning of past tense in these statements, so it still might be
considered subjunctive, just not the old form.
Edith Wollin
-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Veit, Richard
Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2008 2:25 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Subjunctive
That fact that half of a group of educated speakers did not use the
subjunctive to describe a hypothetical situation is more evidence
suggesting that the subjunctive is disappearing from our language.
Dick Veit
________________________________
Richard Veit
Department of English
University of North Carolina Wilmington
-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Linda Di Desidero
Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2008 9:36 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Subjunctive
At a recent (large) faculty meeting, one of the administrators ran a
'warm-up' activity. The idea was for faculty members to stand up,
introduce themselves, and talk about what they would be doing on a
Saturday morning if they were not attending this meeting.
I kept track: At least half of the speakers said "If I was not here"
while almost half said "If I were not here." I was surprised, given
that this was an educated group of people and the speaking occasion was
not all that informal.
Oh, the things we find to interest ourselves!
Linda
-----------------------------------------------------
Linda Di Desidero, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Assistant Academic Director of Writing
Communication, Arts, and Humanities
University of Maryland University College
3501 University Boulevard East
Adelphi, MD 20783-8083
(240) 582-2830
(240) 582-2993 (fax)
-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Kathleen M. Ward
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 1:47 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Subjunctive
Well, it does, of course (she should have said "If Obama were a white
man") but the subjunctive has been disappearing from English for
centuries now. I think it has become pretty rare in speech. (I
take it that this was an interview quotation?)
Kathleen Ward
UC Davis
On Mar 12, 2008, at 9:30 AM, DD Farms wrote:
> DD: Am I a bit confused? Consider the quote from Geraldine Ferraro,
> [NYT 12 Mar 08, Maureen Dowd.] "If Obama was a white man, he would not
> be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color), he would
> not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is.
> And the country is caught up in the concept." I thought High Standard
> English required the use of the subjunctive in stating a condition
> contrary to fact.
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