| Autor |
Wiadomość |
|
Jupiter
Dołączył(a): 26 września 2010, o 06:16
Posty: 1
|
#)  Problem with subjunctive verb
Hi all,
I find '' If the planet be close to the sun, its speed increases. ''
Subjunctive is for imagination or hope but I think that the statement is the fact.
Why does the author use ''be'' instead of ''is''?
Many thanks
|
| 26 września 2010, o 06:17 |
|
|
|
wes
Dołączył(a): 9 czerwca 2010, o 16:56
Posty: 39
|
#) Re: Problem with subjunctive verb
The author should really be using "is", as I have never heard anyone use "be" that way. I have no idea why the author would use "be" that way. Its a very strange sentence. I would use "is" personally. Where did you find the sentence btw?
|
| 28 września 2010, o 09:46 |
|
|
|
Udd
Dołączył(a): 20 września 2010, o 09:02
Posty: 5
|
#) Re: Problem with subjunctive verb
I believe in this context, "be" implies a possibility.
|
| 29 września 2010, o 09:08 |
|
|
|
Cool
Dołączył(a): 20 września 2010, o 10:59
Posty: 3
|
#) Re: Problem with subjunctive verb
Perhaps, the speaker is discussing about the planet with its speed unknown.
Which implies that the speaker might be guessing the location of the planet relative to the sun and not its speed.
|
| 29 września 2010, o 09:10 |
|
|
|
Erytrea
Dołączył(a): 29 września 2010, o 10:30
Posty: 2
|
#) Re: Problem with subjunctive verb
It is not incorrect, simply an archaism: all hypothetical if-clauses in English once governed the subjunctive. Present subjunctive forms were gradually supplanted by present indicatives (resulting in the contemporary 'first conditional' paradigm), while past subjunctives remained to express unreal(istic) conditionals.
|
| 29 września 2010, o 10:32 |
|
|
|
Uming
Dołączył(a): 4 sierpnia 2010, o 07:06
Posty: 18
|
#) Re: Problem with subjunctive verb
I think that it's just an archaic form of the verb "to be" which has been used in the past and it's not longer used nowadays. But that's just my own opinion on this topic.
|
| 29 września 2010, o 12:42 |
|
|
