Why do we use object pronouns in this imperative statements and what is the name of this kind of structure conveying kindness, hate and other emotions?:
Kindness: Thank you!, Bless you!
Hate: Damn you!, Kill you!
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1Why do you think they are imperatives?– BillJDec 23, 2016 at 8:23
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1Because there is an exclamatory mark written at the end.– Juan ZarateDec 23, 2016 at 17:51
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2What does an exclamatory mark have to do with imperatives?– BillJDec 23, 2016 at 17:58
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3The presence of an exclamation point and the lack of an explicit subject are both commonly associated with the imperative mode. However, "thank you" is indicative and can be interpreted as "[I] thank you" or "[We] thank you". "Bless you" and "damn you" might be first-person indicative, third-person subjunctive, or even third-person imperative. Without further context, I have no idea how to interpret "kill you".– Gary BotnovcanDec 23, 2016 at 19:07
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2None of your examples are imperatives, which are distinct by having a covert 2nd person subject (Sit down). They don't normally have an exclamation mark at the end. And exclamatives normally begin with "what" or "how" (What a pretty girl she is! / How stupid you are!). Constructions like Thank you, Bless You and Damn you are actually reduced clauses, where the omitted subject is the 1st person pronoun "I" (which can sometimes be added. e.g. I thank you). The omission of a subject pronoun like this is called 'ellipsis'.– BillJDec 23, 2016 at 19:19
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1 Answer
Imperative Verbs
Imperative verbs are verbs which create an imperative sentence, i.e. a sentence that gives an order.
Why do we use object pronouns in this imperative statements
Kindness: Thank you!, Bless you!
Hate: Damn you!, Kill you!
Well firstly these are not all "imperative statements, per the above, an imperative statement issues a command. Used in the kind sense, the phrase isn't issuing a command.
So what are they?
Mood
Mood is the form a verb takes to show how it is to be regarded (e.g., as a fact, a command, a wish, an uncertainty).
- The imperative mood is a verb form which makes a command or a request - "Get out"
- The indicative mood is a verb form which makes a statement or asks a question - "What was that?" or "I saw something"
- The subjunctive mood is the verb form used to express a wish, a suggestion, a command, or a condition that is contrary to fact. "I suggest that you go"
and what is the name of this kind of structure conveying kindness, hate and other emotions?:
I would suggest that the structure may be indicative mood, it is more of a statement that a command.
Kindness and hate are independent of sentence structure and grammar. The grammar indicates how the sentence is composed, what is performing the action and what is having the action performed on it. Kindness versus hate versus emotion do not factor into grammatical constructs. Even if the structures may fall into the indicative mood category, it still does not mean "mood" in the emotional sense, it means a grammatical indication of mood.
