Mood,subjunctive,meaning,definition,(in)dependent clauses - Parts Of Speech-ESL/Learn English Grammar

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SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD


[Sidenote: _Meaning of the word._]

217. _Subjunctive_ means _subjoined_, or joined as dependent or
subordinate to something else.

[Sidenote: _This meaning is misleading._]

If its original meaning be closely adhered to, we must expect every
dependent clause to have its verb in the subjunctive mood, and every clause _not_ dependent to have its verb in some other mood.

But this is not the case. In the quotation from Hamilton (Sec. 215, 2)
several subjoined clauses introduced by _if_ have the indicative mood, and also independent clauses are often found having the verb in the subjunctive mood.

[Sidenote: _Cautions._]

Three cautions will be laid down which must be observed by a student
who wishes to understand and use the English subjunctive:--

(1) You cannot tell it always by the form of the word. The main
difference is, that the subjunctive has no _-s_ as the ending of the
present tense, third person singular; as, "If he _come_."

(2) The fact that its clause is dependent or is introduced by certain
words will not be a safe rule to guide you.

(3) The _meaning_ of the verb itself must be keenly studied.


[Sidenote: _Definition._]

218. The subjunctive mood is that form or use of the verb which
expresses action or being, not as a fact, but as merely conceived of
in the mind.


Subjunctive in Independent Clauses.


I. Expressing a Wish.

219. The following are examples of this use:--

     Heaven _rest_ her soul!--MOORE.

     God _grant_ you find one face there You loved when all was
     young.--KINGSLEY.

     Now _tremble_ dimples on your cheek, Sweet _be_ your lips to
     taste and speak.--BEDDOES.

     Long _die_ thy happy days before thy death.--SHAKESPEARE.


II. A Contingent Declaration or Question.

220. This really amounts to the conclusion, or principal clause, in
a sentence, of which the condition is omitted.

     Our chosen specimen of the hero as literary man [if we were to
     choose one] _would be_ this Goethe.--CARLYLE.

     I _could lie_ down like a tired child,
     And _weep_ away the life of care
     Which I have borne and yet must bear.--SHELLEY.

     Most excellent stranger, as you come to the lakes simply to see
     their loveliness, _might_ it not _be_ as well to ask after the
     most beautiful road, rather than the shortest?--DE QUINCEY.


Subjunctive in Dependent Clauses.


I. Condition or Supposition.


221. The most common way of representing the action or being as
merely thought of, is by putting it into the form of a _supposition_
or _condition_; as,--

     Now, if the fire of electricity and that of lightning _be_ the
     same, this pasteboard and these scales may represent electrified
     clouds.--FRANKLIN.

Here no assertion is made that the two things _are_ the same; but, if
the reader merely _conceives_ them for the moment to be the same, the
writer can make the statement following. Again,--

     If it _be_ Sunday [supposing it to be Sunday], the peasants sit
     on the church steps and con their psalm books.--LONGFELLOW.


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