Michael's English Usage

Grammar Lessons from a Grumpy Old English Teacher

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A TOUGH GRAMMAR CONSTRUCTION

Tuesday, August 10, 2010 By Michael Lyons 1 Comment

THE SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD – Part 1

The “subjunctive mood” is a tough and oft-neglected part of grammatical construction but it is integral to a correct understanding of expressing certain conditional moods.

Read the following sentences to understand the sense of each and then determine what is incorrect in each.
Hint: obviously “subjunctive mood” is the key, so you must determine what “subjunctive mood” is and how it is constructed.
Rewrite each sentence so that it is correct.
Explain the reason for your correction.

“If I was you, I would run.”

“I wish he was able to type faster.”


TODAY’S WORD

The word for today is “stygian“.
What part of speech is “stygian“?
Define “stygian” and use it in a sentence.
Bonus: identify the mythological root of “stygian” and get a gold star.

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Comments

  1. Kikipotamus says

    Tuesday, August 10, 2010 at 10:08 pm

    If I were you, I would run.
    I wish he were able to type faster.

    In each case, you are talking about something that is contrary to fact. (I am not you, and he is not able to type faster.) That is one situation in which we use the subjunctive.

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