Subjunctive Mood
I was reading an article on National Review about Colorado changing the way its electoral votes are allocated. There was one sentence in it that particularly annoyed me:
If the proposal would have been in effect in 2000, Al Gore would have won the presidency…. [emphasis added]
Now, I’m just a dumb redneck with an engineering degree, but just between you and I, I don’t think that’s the right way to use the subjunctive mood. However, I think it’s fairly common. What’s the deal?
Additional discussion topic: is it time to just give up on the subjunctive mood?
November 20th, 2004 at 9:06 pm
[…] ncept of anxiety misuse anxious as a synonym for eager. On a related note, Thibodeaux asks whether it’s time to just give up on the subjunctive mood. It seems to me many ha […]
October 5th, 2004 at 5:53 pm
What’s the correct form? “If the proposal had been in effect…?” That one’s always confused me a bit. And I’ve always sucked at the “voices” and “moods,” at least by name…
October 5th, 2004 at 5:55 pm
I believe what you just typed is correct.
October 5th, 2004 at 8:15 pm
What you typed is correct, but while we’re talking grammar, you used the subjective case as the object of a preposition. “Between you and I” should be “Between you and me.”
October 5th, 2004 at 8:18 pm
The subjunctive is just about dead in English. The only time I was ever explicitly taught it was in Spanish class. Too bad, it’s quite useful. And the conditional/subjunctive is such a nice construct. [/nerdery]
October 5th, 2004 at 8:20 pm
Pride goeth before a fall… I was really unclear in that post two above… the first “you” referred to tgirsch, the second “you” refers to the original post. doh! I’ll shut up now.
October 5th, 2004 at 9:05 pm
Nate: I know about pronoun case. That’s my sarcastic side showing through. “Between you and I” is one of the many, many things that annoys me.
October 5th, 2004 at 11:21 pm
The one that really gets me is using “they” as a singular pronoun. I can at least sort of understand (though certainly not approve) when it is used in place of the generic “he” but when it’s used for he or she when only one would do… Arg! Something like: “I don’t know which of my sisters ate my cookies, but when I find out, they will be sorry!”
October 5th, 2004 at 11:52 pm
Oh yeah, I hate that one, too. Oh, you know what else? In that airport, when they say, “This will serve as your final boarding call…” Why not just say, “This IS the final boarding call?” What’s with the “will serve as” silliness?
Oh, and “off” is not a “position” for a cell phone. “Off” is a state. For a switch, yes, it’s a position, but not for an entire system.
I better stop now.
October 6th, 2004 at 7:21 am
What really annoys me is the real I dea. Are they trying to change the vote process so the Left Wacos will win. Well then why not just propose ‘that for every 1 of our votes they get 2 votes’.
October 6th, 2004 at 8:27 am
Not sure I know what you’re referring to, Stu.
October 6th, 2004 at 11:27 am
As long as Thibodeaux’s threads have been subject to hijacking, the other thing that really bugs me is “your/you’re” confusion. Oh, how that drives me up a friggin wall. And “it’s/its.” And no, “its” isn’t an exception: no possessive pronouns get apostrophes. His/hers/theirs/ours/its. No apostrophes. Ever.
But the most anally-retentive English fascists I’ve ever seen is Dvorkin.
October 6th, 2004 at 11:31 am
Ohh… on the subject of general language pet-peeves… utilize. Hate that word. “Use” means almost the same thing in nearly every context. And it’s 1/3 the syllables. Methodology is another word I can’t stand. Methods works just as well. Functionality is another. Start with the noun, add an ajective suffix, then add the noun suffix to that. Ugh!
October 6th, 2004 at 1:09 pm
Amen to both of you. And while we’re at it, tgirsch, let’s not forget people who use apostrophe’s to make plural word’s that aren’t possessive.
October 7th, 2004 at 11:48 am
Yeah, the apostrophe is the bane of many.