Subjunctive mood indicates making a
hypothetical statement (i.e. not true).
e.g. If I were you,
I would do it. (Past tense for a present action to
indicate something contrary to the fact)
e.g. If he were the
president, he would do it. (He is not the president, and
therefore he will not do it.)
e.g. If you
worked hard now, you would pass the exam. (You are not
working hard now, and so you will not pass the exam; it is merely an
assumption. Compare: “If you work hard, you will pass the exam.”
Here, it becomes a condition, and therefore there is a probability that
you will pass the exam.)
e.g. If pigs had
wings, they would fly. (Pigs do not have wings, and therefore they
will never fly.)
Subjunctive mood can also be used
in the past tense. In that case, the past perfect tense (instead
of the past tense) is used to show
the hypothetical statement in the past.
e.g. If he had
been the president, he would have done it. (He was not the
president, and so he did not do it.)
e.g. If you had
worked hard last year, you would have passed the exam. (You
did not work hard last year, and so you failed in the exam last year.)
Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
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