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Do you use the subjonctive in English?
170 sats \ 9 comments \ @south_korea_ln 27 Mar 2024 culture
As a non-native English speaker who was taught to use the subjunctive by my teacher back in the day, I wonder how many of you actually use it.
E.g. do you usually say
If I were a millionaire, I would travel the world. (subjunctive)
or
If I was a millionaire, I would travel the world. (no subjunctive)
For the record, both are accepted these days. I'm more interested about its actual use.
Subjunctive - native English speaker46.7%
No subjunctive - native English speaker26.7%
Subjunctive - non-native20.0%
No subjunctive - non-native6.7%
15 votes \ poll ended
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21 sats \ 1 reply \ @Signal312 27 Mar 2024
I do, actually. But depending on who I'm with, it feels a little hoity-toity.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 27 Mar 2024
Agree
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100 sats \ 2 replies \ @StillStackinAfterAllTheseYears 27 Mar 2024
Subjunctive, but I can't honestly recall if it's because I'm a native speaker, or because it was taught in elementary school and became instinct.
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21 sats \ 1 reply \ @south_korea_ln OP 27 Mar 2024
The reason I'm asking is that have the impression that more often than not I notice native speakers not using it. But it's maybe confirmation bias as I probably don't get triggered when native speakers do use it.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @StillStackinAfterAllTheseYears 27 Mar 2024
Oh yeah, I know a lot of native English speakers absolutely don't use the subjunctive, or use it almost randomly. I think I notice it myself more when I'm reading than when I'm having a conversation, to be honest (probably because speaking is more informal and grammar rules get broken more often in speech in general).
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21 sats \ 2 replies \ @south_korea_ln OP 27 Mar 2024
I just noticed that one cannot use markdown in the title it seems...
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0 sats \ 1 reply \ @StillStackinAfterAllTheseYears 27 Mar 2024
Yeah, found this out a couple of days ago, but didn't notice until the edit window had expired: #479400
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21 sats \ 0 replies \ @south_korea_ln OP 27 Mar 2024
I noticed before the edit window expired. Wanted to write
Do you use the subjunctive in English?
to give it the proper nuance. Not that important :)
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @398ja 27 Mar 2024
What is this? Black magic? 😅
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