A Dictionary of Cont..

we expect to see realized we use the vecb hope,
which may be followed by a present indicative,
as in I hope you like it and I hope you can come.
(It may also be followed by a past indicative
referring to a past event, as in I hope you liked
it.) Other verbs of wishing or desiring may be
followed by a clause containing a subjunctive or
subjunctive auxiliary verb, or by an infinitive,
as in I long to have him come and I want him
to go. The infinitive construction is preferred.
Formerly a wish could be expressed in the
main verb of a sentence by means of a present
subjunctive. As this is identical in form with
the imperative, these old expressions of wish are
now felt as imperatives, however unreasonable
that may be, as in heaven forbid, perish the
thought, long live America. In present-day English
the subjunctive auxiliary may is used to
distinguish a wish from a command. It must
stand immediately before the grammatical subject,
as in long may it wave and may she live to
be a hundred. The auxiliary would introduces a
wish that seems to the speaker unlikely to be
fulfilled, as in would I knew what fo do. This
construction is now archaic except in the combination
would to God.
2. From the earliest times English has had
three ways of making a hypothetical statement,
indicating varying degrees of confidence in what
is said. In addition, we may also show that what
we are saying is known to be contrary to the
facts. In what follows, everything that is said
applies equally to suppositions, concessions, and
conditions. Each of the examples given might
equally well have begun with suppose (a supposition),
though (a concession), or if (a condition).
If an event is thought of as probable, we may
treat it as a fact and speak of it in the indicative,
as in suppose it is true and suppose he
comes tontorrow. These indicative statements
may also appear in the past tense when that is
appropriate, as in I suppose it was true and I
suppose he came yesterday.
In the United States up to thirty or forty
years ago, an event that was not thought of as
a probable fact, but as an idea or theory, was
expressed by a present subjunctive, as in even
though it be true and even though he come tomorrow.
This use of the subjunctive can still
be heard but it is no longer as popular as it used
to be. Today we are more likely to express this
idea by means of should, as in even though it
should be true and even though he should come
tomorrow.
If an event is thought of as unlikely or doubtful,
we use a past tense form, which is here a
past subjunctive since it does not refer to a past
event but to something vaguely in the present
or the future, as in even though they were right
and even though he came tomorrow.
In making a hypothetical statement abolt the
past w&h we know to be conuary LO me racts,
we may use the auxiliary had or could have, as
in ij he had come yesterday and if he could
have come yesterday. Any other statement about
the past, such as if he was here yesterday, is now
subjunctive
felt to be a statement about the facts, about
what happened yesterday, and an indicative
form of the verb is therefore required. That we
do not know what the facts are, is beside the
point. The subjunctive were should not be used
in speaking about a past event, as it is in if he
were here yesterday. If we do not know what
actually happened, the indicative was is required.
If we know that he was not here, the
past perfect form, if he had been here yesterday,
is preferred.
A conditional statement is usually accompanied
by another statement, called the conclusion,
which tells what will happen if the
condition is fulfilled or what would have happened
if the condition had been fulfilled. If an
indicative form of the verb is used in stating the
condition, any form may be used in stating the
conclusion, as in if this is true, I might see him
and if he was home yesterday, I will hear about
it. Similarly, if a present subjunctive is used in
the condition, any form may be used in the conclusion,
as in though he slay me, yet will I
trust in him. But if a past subjunctive is used in
the condition, a past subjunctive auxiliary is required
in the conclusion, as in if he came tomorrow,
I might see him. And if a past perfect
tense or could have is used in the condition, one
of these auxiliaries followed by have is required
in the conclusion, as in if he had come yesterday,
I would have seen him.
In literary English the fact that a statement
is a conditional clause can sometimes be shown
without a conjunction by simply placing the first
element of the verb before the subject. For a
simple condition, this is possible with the auxiliary
verbs could and should and with were
followed by a to-infinitive, as in could I see him,
I would . . .; should he go, I would . . .; and
were I to go, I would. . . . For a contrary to fact
condition, this is possible with the auxiliary
could have, the word had used in any manner,
and were when it is not followed by an infinitive,
as in had I gone, I would have . . .; could Z
have gone, I would have . . .; and were I going,
I would. . . .
3. The subjunctive once had many other uses
which are now expressed by the indicative, but
which are similar to the uses of the subjunctive
in some of the other European languages. Verbs
of dreading and fearing still require a subjunctive
when they are used with lest, a~ in each
fearing lest the other suspect it. But this is now
extremely literary. In ordinary speech we use
that and an indicative, as in each fearing that
the other suspects it. Formerly, the subjunctive
was used to-express result, as die in he that
smiteth a man so that he die. And well into this
century a few Americans used the subjunctive
in expressions of time, as fall in the tree will
wither before it fall and send in I will wait till
he send for me. Just before World War I, these
forms had crossed the Atlantic and were appearing
in British newspapers, to the great distress
of educated Englishmen. They are now
obsolete in this country as well as in England.
But a form of the temporal subjunctive is still