Subjunctive

“ Cæsar sends men to find the bridge
The verb reperiant in the dependent clause is in the subjunctive because it tells us what Cæsar wants the men to do; in other words, it expresses his will and the purpose in his mind. Such a use of the subjunctive is called the subjunctive of purpose.
349. Rule. Subjunctive of Purpose. The subjunctive is used in a dependent clause to express the purpose of the action in the principal clause. ”

“ In dependent clauses it denotes uncertainty, possibility, or mere futurity.4 (a) Concessive clauses (introduced by ðēah, though) and (b) temporal clauses (introduced by ǣr, ǣr ðǣm ðe, before) are rarely found with any other mood than the subjunctive. The subjunctive is also regularly used in Alfredian prose (c) after verbs of saying, even when no suggestion of doubt or discredit attaches to the narration.5 “Whether the statement refer to a fact or not, whether the subject-matter be vouched for by the reporter, as regards its objective reality and truth, the subjunctive does not tell. ”

“ In other verbs the subjunctive, instead of having the s-form in the third person singular of the present tense, has the name-form, or the same form as all the other forms of the present tense; as, indicative, he runs, she sees, it seems, he has; subjunctive, if he run, though she see, lest it seem, if he have. ”

“ VI. Expressing a Wish.
227. After a verb of wishing, the subjunctive is regularly used in the dependent clause.
The transmigiation of souls is no fable. I would it were! —Emerson.
Bright star! Would I were steadfast as thou art!—Keats.
I've wished that little isle had wings,
And we, within its fairy bowers,
Were wafted off to seas unknown.
—Moore. VII. In a Noun Clause.
Subject.
228. The noun clause, in its various uses as subject, object, in apposition, etc., often contains a subjunctive.
The essence of originality is not that it be new.—Carlyle
Apposition or logical subject. ”

“ The present subjunctive of the irregular verb sum is inflected as follows:
The Indicative and Subjunctive Compared.
The two most important of the finite moods are the indicative and the subjunctive. The indicative deals with facts either real or assumed. If, then, we wish to assert something as a fact or to inquire after a fact, we use the indicative. On the other hand, if we wish to express a desire or wish, a purpose, a possibility, an expectation, or some such notion, we must use the subjunctive. ”

“ I came, thou came, he came.
[82] "Foundations," pp. 98-101.
[83] "Some people seem to think that the subjunctive mood is as good as lost, that it is doomed, and that its retention is hopeless. If its function were generally appreciated, it might even now be saved.... If we lose the Subjunctive Verb, it will certainly be a grievous impoverishment to our literary language, were it only for its value in giving variation to diction—and I make bold to assert that the writer who helps to keep it up deserves public gratitude."—John Earle: English Prose, its Elements, History, and Usage, p. 172. ”

“ The modern tendency to drop the subjunctive is unfortunate, for the distinction between the subjunctive and the indicative is too useful to be abandoned. [83] A knowledge of the difference between these modes in English is especially important in view of the difficulty which pupils complain of in mastering the uses of the Latin subjunctive or the Greek subjunctive and optative. [84] For these reasons more space is given to the subjunctive in this book than would be called for by a mere discussion of modern English usage. ”

“ Forms of the Subjunctive—In form the English subjunctive differs from the indicative in several ways:—
1. In the single case of the verb to be there are distinct forms for the present and past tenses, namely:—
EXAMPLES.—"See that my room be [85] got ready at once." "I will work you a banner if you be [85] victorious." "The headsman feels if the axe be [85] sharp." "Take care lest you be deceived." "Judge not that ye be not judged." "I will beard them, though they be [85] more fanged than wolves and bears." "If I were you, I would not say that." "If you were more studious, you would rank high." ”

“ A supposition which is assumed to be true, or which is made without any hint as to its correctness, is expressed by the indicative. A supposition which is viewed by the speaker as untrue or unlikely is expressed by the subjunctive or a periphrase [87] for the subjunctive. When the character of the supposition makes the conclusion untrue or unlikely, the conclusion also is expressed by the subjunctive or a periphrase [87] for the subjunctive. The use of tenses is peculiar, as will be seen from the following table of a few common forms of conditional sentences. ”

“ The subjunctive also is formed by adding this word belong: "you should go" being expressed as "you b'long go." "If I go" is "sposee my go" and beyond this there are no means of expressing the other tenses except by clumsy combinations. ”

“ Such forms as If he have loved, etc. are exceptional. It is true that other forms, as, If he had known, Had he been, Should he fall, may be used in a true subjunctive sense, to assert what is a mere conception of the mind, i. e., what is merely thought of, without regard to its being or becoming a fact; but in these cases it is not the form of the verb but the connective or something in the construction of the sentence that determines the manner of assertion. In parsing, the verbs in such constructions may be treated as indicative or potential, with a subjunctive meaning. ”

“ After making this application of the name modes, was it not improper for the learned author to call the moods also "modes?"
[230] "We have, in English, no genuine subjunctive mood, except the preterimperfect, if I were, if thou wert, &c. of the verb to be. [See Notes and Observations on the Third Example of Conjugation, in this chapter.] The phrase termed the subjunctive mood, is elliptical; shall, may, &c. being understood: as, 'Though hand (shall) join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished.' 'If it (may) be possible, live peaceably with all.' Scriptures."--Rev. ”

“ Aul. 500, in sooth ‘t were fair that carriages be given me, to ride withal. The indicative occurs where the subjunctive would be used in classical Latin: as, multa concurrunt simul, quī coniectūram hanc faciō, T. Andr. 511, a thousand things combine whereby I come to this conjecture.
quōminus. 1977. The subjunctive with quōminus (1972) is used to complete the sense of verbs of hindering or resisting.
Such verbs are: impediō, teneō, hinder, interclūdō, dēterreō, obstō, obsistō, resistō, repugnō, nōn recūsō; these verbs often have a subjunctive with nē (1960) . ”

“ But the second persons have become of so rare use with us that they could render little aid in keeping alive in the minds of speakers the apprehension of the subjunctive: it virtually rested solely upon the single form if he love. ”

“ The imperfect sometimes denotes action not performed at the present time (1560) : quis enim cīvis rēgī nōn favēret? D. 6, for what Roman would not feel for the king? (c.) ego tē vidēre nōluerim? QFr. 1, 3, 1, I have objected to seeing you?
1566. The subjunctive is often used in interrogative outbursts of surprise, disapprobation, indignation, or captious rejoinder. In such questions a pronoun, ego, tū (ille) , is usually expressed. The negative is nōn.
This subjunctive occurs in Plautus and Terence, in Cicero, oftenest the letters, in Horace, Vergil, and Livy. Not in Caesar nor Sallust. ”

“ The verb of a subordinate sentence, introduced by a relative word or a conjunctive particle, stands in the subjunctive in indirect discourse (1722) .
For the indicative with dum, in the time while, retained in indirect discourse, see 1995.
421 sapientissimum esse dīcunt eum, cui quod opus sit ipsī veniat in mentem; proximē accēdere illum quī alterīus bene inventīs obtemperet, Clu. 84, they say he is the wisest man who thinks out of himself what is expedient; and that the man who avails himself of the wise devices of another comes next. ”

“ It will be noted that in all verbs, weak and strong, the old conditional may be constructed from the 3d pers. pl. of the preterit by changing -on to -a.
Imperfect Subjunctive.
190. The Provençal imperfect subjunctive came from the Latin pluperfect subjunctive, which in Vulgar Latin assumed [146] the functions of the imperfect and generally displaced it, its own place having been taken by a compound form: see § 141, (2) .
191. For weak verbs the basis was the contracted form of the first and fourth conjugations (amāssem < amāvĭssem, audīssem < audīvĭssem) ”

“ There is usually no difficulty in apprehending the meaning. Two clauses or two sentences are spoken-in such close connection that the dependence expressed by the subjunctive ‘if’ is obvious. We have analogous expressions in English, such as, “No cure, no pay.” ”

“ When the original words of a quotation or question are changed to conform to the construction of the sentence in which they are quoted, it is called Indirect Discourse.
1724. In the complete form of indirect discourse, the subjunctive is subordinate to an infinitive or an accusative with the infinitive, dependent on a verb of saying or thinking (2175) : as,
negat Epicūrus iūcundē posse vīvī, nisi cum virtūte vīvātur, TD. 3, 49, Epicurus avers there is no living happily, without living virtuously; directly, iūcundē vīvī nōn potest, nisi cum virtūte vīvitur. ”

“ In the Veda, the present tense has, besides its indicative inflection, a subjunctive, of considerable variety of formation, an optative, and an imperative (in 2d and 3d persons) . The same three modes are found, though of much less frequent occurrence, as belonging to the perfect; and they are made also from the aorists, being of especial frequency from the simple aorist. The future has no modes (an occasional case or two are purely exceptional) . ”

“ Perhaps in another generation the subjunctive forms will have ceased to exist except in the single instance of were, which serves a useful function, although we manage to dispense with a corresponding form in other verbs.” Here, as elsewhere, unlettered American usage simply proceeds in advance of the general movement. ”

“ The moods of the Latin verb are the indicative, subjunctive, imperative, and infinitive.
a. A verb is in the indicative mood when it makes a statement or asks a question about something assumed as a fact. ”

“ A concessive clause may be introduced by the conjunction as, or by a relative pronoun or a relative adverb.
{Whatever you say, | Whichever argument you present, | However much you object,} he will carry his point. Weak as I am, I will make the effort. Gay as the scene was, ’twas but a dreary place for Mr. Esmond. Note. The adverbial use of however is quite distinct from its use as a coördinate conjunction (§ 362) .
402. Concession is sometimes expressed by a subjunctive clause without a conjunction to introduce it (§ 281) .
Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home. ”

“ I do not remember to have heard once in the course of my life, an improper use of the verbs will and shall, among the unmixed English descendants in the eastern states.
But of all the errors or inaccuracies in speaking or writing the English language, the most numerous class appear in the improper use of verbs in the subjunctive mode. Not only illiterate men, but authors of the first rank, often use the pres [Pg 241] ent tense for the future, the future for the present, and the past for both. ”

“ That when it is the first word of the proposition it determines the concord of the verb, unless its character of a noun of the singular number and third person be disguised by the prominence of some plural form, or some pronoun of the first or second person in the latter part of the term.
5. That in a simple disjunctive proposition (i.e., one where either does not occur) all nouns are subordinate to the first. ”

“ RULE III.
When the conjunction disjunctive comes between two nouns, the verb, noun, or pronoun, is of the singular number, because it refers to each of such nouns taken separately: as, "A cold in the head, or a sore eye is a great disadvantage to a lover."
If singular pronouns, or a noun and pronoun of different persons, be disjunctively connected, the verb must agree with the person which stands nearest to it: as, "I or thou art." "Thou or I am." "I, thou, or he is," &c. ”