新概念英语语法：基础语法规则虚拟语气.pdfVIP

新概念英语培训：/kcnet460/ 新概念英语语法：基础语法规则虚拟语气 How many times as a child was I puzzled when a singular pronoun suddenly turned plural. Why,I wondered, should it be If I were you? Well,its simply because were in the subjunctive mood. So what on earth, I hear you ask, is the subjunctive mood? It sounds like a form of deep depression! Frankly, thats a good way to describe the effect it has on me. It pulls me right out of the story. Anything that pulls a reader out of a story has to be a bad thing. If it also puzzles a child reader, its a positive crime. The subjunctive mood is quite simply a form of the verb when a writer stops dealing with real things about which we can argue (The King is alive, Mary is here) and starts dealing with uncertainties such as wishes, commands and unreal circumstances (Long live the King, if only Mary were here). Wereso accustomed to If I were you that it doesnt sound so odd-- though it baffled me as a child; nobody ever explained why I was suddenly (and impossibly) more than one person. The subjunctive is an outdated grammar rule that should have died a natural death a long time ago. Im convinced its only the extreme pedantry of editors of childrens books that has kept it alive. It has no plausible reason for its existence in the 21st century. I found the following (from Margaret Mahys Underrunners--a book riddled with subjunctives) positively pompous. As if she were being scribbled out. As if it were making a grand announcement. Theres another good reason for killing off the subjunctive mood: too many writers use it incorrectly: Mary asked if it were his idea. If she were French, her accent didnt betray her. Examples of incorrect use from published books--incorrect because the sentences are not in the subjunctive mood: But if it were in the hydro it was well hidden. (Since it is referred to here in the plural as well as the singula