John, If the main clause is in the past tense, the subordinate clause would still be subjunctive: "If he were sober" rather than "if he was sober." But like you I would use the perfect subjunctive ("had he been sober" or "If he had been sober") when the main clause is past tense. Dick On Fri, Oct 28, 2011 at 12:16 AM, John Chorazy <[log in to unmask]>wrote: Dick - if the event in question happened in the past, as in the second >> sentence model, would you write "He would have acted differently if he was >> sober"? This is a construction I see more commonly. Though, I might >> construct it differently still: "Had he been sober, he would have acted >> differently." >> > John > > >> Subjunctive mood is generally used for counter-factuals. Declarative mood >> is used for factual events or events of unknown factuality, including those >> that follow "if." So I'd write: >> >> - He would be acting differently if he were sober. >> - He can't remember if he was at the party. >> >> Dick >> >> >> >> On Thu, Oct 27, 2011 at 4:48 PM, Michael Kischner <[log in to unmask]>wrote: >> >> I want to write a gentle respond to someone who wrote to my college alumni >> magazine in great dismay over this sentence in its last issue: "You >> wouldn't be reading this magazine if Kenyon wasn't special to you." She >> asserts, "The word 'if' always takes the subjunctive.. . . I would expect no >> less than proper grammar in our alumni magazine!" >> >> Does somebody have a good feel for where things stand on this now? In the >> latest edition of Martha Kolln's book that I have (7th; 2006), Martha says >> that "was" is "fairly common" in certain "If" sentences --"If Joe was here, >> he'd agree with me" -- but that, in writing,"the subjunctive *were* is >> the standard form." Edith Wollin says pretty much the same thing in the >> latest edition of the textbook she and I co-authored. I'd like to know how >> others are seeing it. >> >> Edith tells me that Dick Veit sent a very interesting message to this list >> about the subjunctive. I missed it. Dick, if you see this and can find >> your email, would you mind re-sending? >> >> Thanks! >> >> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/