RE: Subjunctive?

[C.D.Wright@solipsys.compulink.co.uk]

> C.D. Wright (though Outlook claims it is from Pycyn):

I replied to a message but, of course, it went to
Pycyn. I hadn't kept a copy, so I asked Pycyn either
to forward it to the list, or to send it back to me
so I could post it.  The former was chosen.  Sorry
for any confusion.

Anyway, the point of my posting was obviously lost, so 
let me try to make it painfully obvious at the risk of 
belabourng what some of you already know, but no-one 
seems to be talking about ...

The subjunctive carries two pieces of information. The 
most obvious is the causal if-then:

    If I were to use my car to go to work
        then it would be more expensive.

This first point is the usual TFTT, although in English
some sort of causal connection is usually assumed, and 
this seems to be the point that people are discussing.

The second, however, is the speaker's belief that the
first part, the antecedent, is not true, and unlikely
ever to be true.

People are discussing at length the different attempts
at expresing the causal (or whatever) connection, but
perhaps the original question was really about this
extra item of information carried in the subjunctive.
Otherwise it's not actually a subjective.


So the English subjunctive form is a succinct way of
saying:

  Granted, A is not true and is
    unlikely ever to be true,
      but if it *were* true,    <--- "were" = subjunctive
      then B would be forced
      to follow.


cdw
-- 
\\//  ze'uku ko jmive gi'e snada