1. Yes if explaining it within the traditional framework. No if getting
technical.

2. No. I think the past hypothetical this question is optional, and not
forced on you by the use of 'would.' The past-tense form of modals is
often used for politeness in questions, and not all if-clauses need the
past (subjunctive). IOW the choice of 'would' could be determined by
something other than the hypothetical structure.

3. No. I'm not even sure that they should be responsible for tense
sequence in multi-clause phrases, which you could also use to explain
what the teacher wanted even without invoking the subjunctive.

Karl Hagen
Department of English
Mount St. Mary's College


Edward Vavra wrote:

>    All right, this is a serious question (no tricks). I just received
>an e-mail from a parent of a second grader. The question included the
>following:
>
>"She [the second grader] recently came home with some sentences to
>edit, i.e., (7)would you like it if i play at kid's castle with You?
>This sentence contains 7 mistakes.
>She corrected 6 mistakes...Would you like it if I play at Kids' Castle
>with
>you? (Kids' Castle is a local park)
>The teacher corrected the 7th mistake, Would you like it if I PLAYED
>at
>Kids' Castle with you? (caps for emphasis only).
>Can you explain the reason for the use of the past tense of the verb
>play?"
>
>Among other things, my response was that "played" is not just past
>tense, but a subjunctive. I also expressed curiosity about what
>instruction, if any, the students had had about subjunctives. Finally, I
>noted that I would be sending this question to the list, and I gave the
>parent the address of the archives so that she can follow your
>responses.
>
>The questions are:
>1.) Do you agree that "played" would be a subjunctive here?
>2.) Do you agree that "play" would be an error?
>3.) Do you think that second graders should be accountable for
>subjunctives?
>4.) If your answer to (3.) is affirmative, how would you teach them?
>
>Thanks,
>Ed
>
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>

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