Questions tagged [irrealis-mood]
The irrealis-mood tag has no usage guidance.
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Unreal vs Real situations
If you were not blind, you would have avoided the other car.
This is unreal. I want to know what is the "corresponding" real situation:
If you are not blind, you will have avoided the ...
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In sentences like "if they had known you were here", does "were" refer to the past or present?
What a row would there have been if they had known you were here!
How great would have been her disappointment if she had known what they had actually thought!
(Both are example sentences from The ...
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What do native speakers mean when they say "He could have stolen the ball"?
What do native speakers mean when they say "He could have stolen the ball"?
To them, does it mean that they suspect the subject to have stolen the ball or that the subject had the ...
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Use of would in first conditionals
If it's someone whose death you don't even have to know about, you still wouldn't push the button?
In a sentence of first conditionals, dependant clause is constructed in simple present (1st form of ...
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Type 2 IF Conditional. vs Type 3 Situation Comparison
If I am standing there talking to someone while they are getting ready I can use TYPE 2? such as all of these?
If you woke up earlier, then you wouldn’t need to rush.
If you didn’t leave so late, ...
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If conditional If I was him or If I were him or If I was he or If were he? [closed]
Which of the follow are correct and why? I've seen most of these constructions all over the internet but unsure the difference and if even correct at all. These are examples I chose because they're ...
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What rule is at work here?
I don't understand the use of "did" here. I am confused whether it should be did or does.
I wonder what my speech would be. And if Bill would help me with it if he didn’t go to New York and ...
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"If I had known" structure [duplicate]
There's a video that the person says:
If I'd known meeting you would have led me here...`
My question is that the last part of the sentence seems wrong to me. Isn't it supposed to be If I'd known ...
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Insist (that) something should be done
Fowler reads
You can insist that something be done (subjunctive with that
optionally omitted) or that something should be done.
Isn't that also optional in the version with should then?
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Subjunctive mood and conditional
I've seen read a lil bit about subjunctive mood. And the present subjunctive mood works like this: am -> be "I demand that I be available".
I often see wishes like that: "I wish, I ...
user431271
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subjunctive - "there were" or "there was"?
Is it:
Naturally, she assumed that once there was a new film everybody would be eager to go and see it.
Or:
Naturally, she assumed that once there were a new film everybody would be eager to go and ...
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"Had that happened" vs "if that had happened"
Consider the following two sentences:
If that had happened, she would've won.
Had that happened, she would've won.
Is there any difference in meaning between them?
Are they both considered ...
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Which type of condition is it? What is the mood?
If any person be found guilty, he shall have the right of appeal.
Is it a type-2 conditional clause?
Is it subjunctive mood, conditional mood, or imperative mood?
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Hypothesis Was or Were? [duplicate]
If I search in the internet, I find "hypothesis" is a singular word as I see "is" after it. But I found the following line in the book "Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread ...
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I want to know the grammatical errors in this sentence if any. The sentence is:-. "The hospital's construction will be finishing soon." [closed]
I am confused whether the sentence will be the above mentioned one or should be written like :- The construction of hospital will be ending soon
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Using "Would not" for imaginary situation without "If"
I just saw this dialogue from video game (Witcher III) and wondering if this sentence is grammatically correct? and could someone please explain it.
We are not done. It's yours, this gold. I would ...
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'would' vs. 'would've'
No matter how many times I've studied this point of grammar, I am still struggling with using it properly.
I was taught that I should use the unrealistic subjunctive (like 'would've written') for ...
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Usage of 'would'
Consider the following sentence
The program was able to communicate with humans using simple software that would recognize when certain key words were used.
I want to translate this sentence. ...
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Would have +past participle/or will
We'd better buy something useful with the money would have spent or /will spend for the wedding party.
My question is for you as a native speaker which one you might use and why?
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"But the idea that someone might be arming the Seam would never have been allowed" — why "would have"?
From The Hunger Games:
My bow is a rarity, crafted by my father along with a few others that I keep well hidden in the woods, carefully wrapped in waterproof covers. My father could have made good ...
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I should have done this. VS I should have been to do this
I should have done this.
I should have been done this.
I should have been to do this.
I have not too much idea about english but I want to know that, grammatically above sentences are correct ...
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"The irrealis mood form is unique to 'be', and limited to the 1st and 3rd person singular"
"The irrealis mood form is unique to be, and limited to the 1st and 3rd person singular”
Rodney Huddleston and Geoffrey K. Pullum, A Student's Introduction to English Grammar. Cambridge ...
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Could 'it' be regarded as plural? Why is 'were' used instead of 'is' in "...if it were cleaned and fed..."?
I am reading 'Justice' from M.J. Sandel and he quoted the story from another author to criticize utilitarian as follows:
If the child were brought up into the sunlight out of the vile place, if it ...
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Role of 'would'
I know that 'would' has different usages, for requests, conditionals, habitual actions in the past, talking about the future in the past, willingness in the past, being less direct, etc.
Which role ...
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Does using the third conditional make this argument circular?
I was wondering which conditional would be appropriate in the following argument.
There's no evidence to support the opposition's claim that a black hole resulted from the supernova. Furthermore, ...
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Does a "double yes" mean surprise or impatience?
In my post here:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/44643775/how-can-i-write-multi-line-code-in-the-terminal-use-python/44643976#44643976
I answer my own question, there is a comment here:
Yes ...
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Grammatical mood of "loved" in the following sentence
in the following sentence second clause has conditional mood. but what about first clause (subjunctive or indicative?).
If you loved me you would support me.
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"had been" vs "was"
I was reading an English textbook, in which it is given some examples of "the subjunctive mood". Here is one:
If only Tessa had been here yesterday.
I am unable to understand why they use past ...
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"As if it is": why indicative and not subjunctive?
Please take a look at the following quotation:
My view is that multiculturalism was ALWAYS the wrong policy. It's the wrong policy because it promotes all foreign cultures while simultaneously ...
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Conditional / why we put pp after if?
Yep, all these men keep laughing because it looks like rape and sexual assault. If I personally would have seen that. I would have punched that dude in mouth. That dog has seen its last days. Just ...
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What should I use "can" or "could"?
I am stucking at "can" and "could" definition in my words sentence.What should i use?
[Like ebay Auction rule]
1.You are responsible to pay the charges within 7 days after won.
If not,you couldn't ...
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What does "would" mean in this case?
Here is the piece from one of the books from the video game The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion:
However, a guild is different than a band. A guild implies an organization with membership rolls. It ...
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Does English have the subjunctive aspect
My language is Persian and I think we have an aspect which is absent in English, or maybe I am wrong.
In a conversation I wrote this sentence
Then you mean it is not important that I be the first ...
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Second Conditional vs. Third Conditional
Zero and First conditional shows something will happen in certain degree ,but I don't get about Second Conditional and Third Conditional.
Both of them are impossible and unreal, what is the ...
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The Subjunctive in Past "as If" Sentences
I'd like to know how to use the subjunctive mood (if that's how it's called) when describing an unreal situation in the past. Should I use the Past Perfect, like in the past unreal conditional, or the ...
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have to be able to swim / were to be able to swim
You have to be able to swim to attend the pool.
This sentence is grammatical.
If all were to be able to swim, all could attend the pool.
This sentence is not. But how to explain it from the ...
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Parse these three "could have + past participle" constructions
The following parts are taken from PEU1 122.7 & 123.5:
Could have + past participle is sometimes used to talk about past events which are not
certain to have happened (like may/might have- ...
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