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I'm not a native speaker, but I had the impression this shift to "were" happens less in the UK than in the US. Is that so?
by ezequiel-garzon 13y ago
I'm not a native speaker, but I had the impression this shift to "were" happens less in the UK than in the US. Is that so?
- mathieuh 13y agoI speak British English and it's more a matter of register for me. If I'm writing something formal I'll use the subjunctive, if I'm talking to friends I'll just stick with the indicative. If I saw someone write "it is necessary that he goes" in a paper it would stick out as strange to me, likewise if I heard someone say "it is necessary that he go" it would sound overly formal and a bit stilted. So really, you can use either and be understood perfectly well. It only seems to annoy prescriptivists, and I would say one has a moral obligation to annoy prescriptivists anyway.
- ezequiel-garzon 13y agoThat was a great reply! Thanks for the insight.
- anon4 13y ago> one has a moral obligation to annoy prescriptivists anyway And that's a cause I can really get behind.
- Pitarou 13y ago> one has a moral obligation to annoy prescriptivists anyway. Challenge accepted! (See above.)
- Houshalter 13y ago"was" sounds correct to me (US), but everyone learns a slightly different language model.
- djKianoosh 13y agosomewhere along the way when I was young I learned "were" and I almost wish I hadn't haha. here in the northeast/midatlantic the majority of people use "was". it's only a slight nuisance now :) and i'm not even a native speaker. can't imagine how english teachers and actual writers and such feel about it.
- Pitarou 13y agoUse of the subjunctive mood is slowly declining, especially in the UK. We often smooth out the difference by inserting a "should" or "might". E.g. "It's important that you (should) be on time."