Subj : rules of this echo
To   : Alexander Koryagin
From : Ardith Hinton
Date : Sat Dec 22 2018 11:14:47

Hi, Alexander!  Recently you wrote in a message to Anton Shepelev:

 AK>  Do you think it would be more logical if we use them vice
 AK>  versa? ;=)

 AS>  Since the apodosis is in the subjunctive ("would" is the
 AS>  past tense of "will"), the protais must be in the past
 AS>  tense ("used").

 AK>  Hey, Ardith! ;-) After "if" I used a simple future time
 AK>  -- why not?  I don't want to use the subjunctive mood in
 AK>  both clauses.


          FOWLER'S MODERN ENGLISH USAGE, of which I have the 1998 edition, says 
the subjunctive mood is "most likely to be used in formal writing or speech"... 
then goes on to say it's used after various conjunctions (including "if").  The 
author concludes by adding that it's "seldom obligatory".

          My idea of logic in this regard is to choose either the indicative or 
the subjunctive mood, depending on the situation, and stick with it.  People do 
use both within the same sentence as you did at times, but I wouldn't recommend 
it.  Other sources agree with Anton that the subjunctive "would" is effectively 
in the past tense & that having decided to use it in the main clause you should 
follow through in your subordinate clause.  The wording of questions in English 
is complicated enough for those who aren't native speakers of the language, and 
while I've always encouraged my students to take a chance on structures they're 
unfamiliar with there are various ways of saying what you want to say if you're 
not happy about using the subjunctive mood twice within the same sentence.  :-)




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