Comments on: Some of the Ways Writers Hypercorrect

By: Jody

Jody — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 04:44:31 +0000

Deanna:
You are an angel! Thank you for posting these helpful tips.
:-) Jody

By: deannahoak

deannahoak — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 01:50:52 +0000

Heh. Too cute. :-)

By: deannahoak

deannahoak — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 01:49:49 +0000

Hm. Well, I’ve seen some awfully odd rules for teaching EFL (I arranged my master’s coursework so that I could have my degree in either linguistics or TEFL, depending on which I wrote my thesis in), and I far prefer to use standard style manuals for information on grammar rather than EFL textbooks.

The use of the subjunctive is certainly undergoing change, and perhaps the textbooks don’t pick up on that.

Here’s what my favorite style manual, Words into Type, has to say about subjunctive:

The condition contrary to fact is the construction that gives the most trouble today in the use of the subjunctive. Following are correct examples of this use:

Janet wished bitterly that her brother were there to comfort her.
If such a device as this were not used, every time sex cells united, the number of chromosomes would double.

However, many clauses introduced by if do not express a condition contrary to fact, but merely a condition or contingency. In such cases, the subjunctive is incorrect and betrays the kind of grammatical insecurity demonstrated by “between you and I.” In the following examples, the correct examples use indicative:

Wrong: If he were found guilty, he was probably outlawed.
Right: If he was found guilty, he was outlawed.

Wrong: Better yet, use its English equivalent if there be one.
Right: Better yet, use its English equivalent if there is one.

Wrong: Next I looked to see if the ground were clear.
Right: Next I looked to see if the ground was clear.

By: sgreer

sgreer — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 15:28:32 +0000

Just got sent this today, and it made me think of you:

http://www.partiallyclips.com/storage/dentist_lg.png

(and there’s a number of others, equally headdesk-worthy!)

By: anonymous

anonymous — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 14:00:50 +0000

A bit late, it occurs to me that you may have been talking about when to use “if I were” and when to use “if I was” :-)

On that, English-as-a-foreign-language descriptively and uselessly opines that “if I were” is always correct and “if I was” is always wrong. (Wasn’t that a nicely adjectivized said-bookism?)

I’ve said people claim that “if I was” should be used for possible situations and “if I were” for impossible ones, but I don’t really think that enough people are following that rule to make it the one and true one. IMHO, always using “if I was” or “if I were” is just as acceptable. But I don ‘t have any sources to quote on that theory. ;-)

- Benja

By: ambasadora

ambasadora — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 06:39:36 +0000

Those can be invaluable. That’s how I remember the Great Lakes - HOMES!

By: deannahoak

deannahoak — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 08:32:53 +0000

Yeah, I just find that the rules are easier to remember with a funny mnemonic device. :-)

By: dr_pretentious

dr_pretentious — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 07:54:45 +0000

I have this wild speculation that lie and lay used to be the same verb, but that they split into a transitive form and an intransitive form. Is there a philologist in the house?

By: deannahoak

deannahoak — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 23:27:49 +0000

Yeah, that’s a good one. One of the nonfiction people said she sees it a lot, but I don’t come across it all that much in fiction. :-/

By: mmarques

mmarques — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 20:37:39 +0000

This might date me, but I was taught subjunctive by remembering the jingle “If I were an Oscar Meyer Weiner…” (i.e. something that could never be true).

But perhaps some people are confused because they’re thinking “If I were a rich man” … and imagining that it might be true if only they picked the right numbers in the lottery. ;-)