If I win the lottery, I’ll buy a big house.
If I get promoted, I’ll throw a big party.
If my team win the Cup, I’ll buy champagne for everybody.
Vs
If I lived in Japan, I’d have sushi every day.
If I went to China, I’d visit the Great Wall.
If I was the President, I’d reduce taxes.
If I won the lottery, I’d buy a big house.
If I got promoted, I’d throw a big party.
I believe above examples are the case of subjunctive mood.
My question is what difference the difference tenses make?
If I say, ‘If I live in Japan, I will have sushi every day’, do I give any different mood than saying, ‘
If I lived in Japan, I’d have sushi every day?’
(I am not a big fan of sushi though.)
The mood I can’t catch from these dry bone-like sentences.
I mean words with no emotions or unexposed baggage behind them.
Like, when I hear ‘jerk’, all I can sense is that jerk names a bad person.
So, when I use it, I use it in a way I understood the meaning of it, or, what I think it means to be.
The most common use of the subjunctive is in describing conditions that are contrary to fact. All of your examples are such. The correct versions are as follows.
If I lived in Japan, I’d have sushi every day.
If I went to China, I’d visit the Great Wall.
If I were the President, I’d reduce taxes.
If I won the lottery, I’d buy a big house.
If I were promoted, I’d throw a big party.
Another uses of the subjunctive occurs with certain verbs (ask, demand, determine, insist, move, order, pray, prefer, recommend, regret, request, require, suggest, and wish.)
For example, “We require that the applicant be proficient in French.”
And then there are certain expression that use the subjunctive:
God bless you (meaning may God bless you)
Rest in peace (meaning may he rest in peace)
If need be
Heaven forbid
So be it
Read more about it, and feel free to ask questions.
Matters pertaining to the subjunctive are complicated already. I think you make a good observation.
Am I getting close to the actual mood of the writer/speaker of the subjunctive sentence?
I don’t think so. It’s not really a matter on positve of negative. In the examples you gave, it’s a matter of whether the if clause is factual or not. Don’t confuse mood with being positive or negative. The subjunctive mood is, according to one definition,
“a set of categories for which the verb is inflected in many languages, and that is typically used to indicate the syntactic relation of the clause in which the verb occurs to other clauses in the sentence, or the attitude of the speaker toward what he or she is saying, as certainty or uncertainty, wish or command, emphasis or hesitancy.”
It about certainty or uncertainty, not about positive or negative.
If I win the lottery, I’ll buy a big house.
If I get promoted, I’ll throw a big party.
If my team win the Cup, I’ll buy champagne for everybody.
In these sentences, we are talking about the future. We are thinking about a particular situation in the future, and the result of this condition. For example, you are not promoted yet. But your performances were good, and there is a possiblity that you’ll be promoted. We are going to use WILL for future tense. So, IF YOU GET PROMOTED, (what are you going to do?) YOU’LL THROW A BIG PARTY.
I hope that helps. Don’t forget to invite me for the party. Thanks!
Saparris - Can you explain why “He dare not leave” is in the subjunctive, despite its certainty?
Dare is a semi-modal verb, which means (I suppose) that you could say, “He dares not leave. So, “He dare not leave is not really subjunctive. It just looks that way.
I don’t think so. It’s not really a matter on positve of negative. In the examples you gave, it’s a matter of whether the if clause is factual or not. Don’t confuse mood with being positive or negative. The subjunctive mood is, according to one definition,
“a set of categories for which the verb is inflected in many languages, and that is typically used to indicate the syntactic relation of the clause in which the verb occurs to other clauses in the sentence, or the attitude of the speaker toward what he or she is saying, as certainty or uncertainty, wish or command, emphasis or hesitancy.”
It about certainty or uncertainty, not about positive or negative.
I will adjust my understanding of mood according to your teaching.
Now, help me take another step closer to the full understanding of ‘mood’ by clarifying the next question;
I wish I have some good news.
I wish I had some good news.
What is the mood difference between the two sentences?
I wish you are in a good mood to answer my questions.
Would it be okay if I asked the question or will it be okay if I ask the question?
The word wish is similar in meaning to the expression “would like”:
I wish I had a big house = I would like to have a big house.
I wish I had been there = I would like to have been there.
I wish you would stop talking = I would like you to stop talking.
I wish to see the manager = I would like to see the manager.
I wish you a Merry Christmas = I would like you to have a Merry Christmas.
Its main use is to express regret that things are not different. It is possible to use wish in this way to talk about both the present/future and the past:
I wish (that) I weren’t here now.
I wish (that) I didn’t have to go to school tomorrow.
I wish (that) I had studied harder when I was at school.
Notice that the verb tenses that follow wish are the same as those used in the second and third conditionals (see Grammar definitions).
Also notice the word that can be omitted in more informal speech.
The expression wish … would is used to talk about (lack of) willingness to do things:
I wish you would tidy your room.
I wish you wouldn’t always come home so late.
In a formal style, wish + (object) + infinitive can be used in the same way as “want”:
I wish to speak to the director.
Do you wish me to serve refreshments, sir?
Wish is also used in some fixed expressions:
I/we wish you a Merry Christmas (and a Happy New Year).
I/we wish you well/all the best.
