It's amazing how quickly the weeks roll around during the summer. I guess it exemplifies the old adage that time flies when you're having fun! I realized it is Wednesday already, and I hadn't done the weekly grammar, so I placed a time limit on my backyard golf practice so I could get to this post...and I'm not even bitter.
I have to ask, does anyone remember being taught subjunctive verbs? I sure don't, but I did have a friend some years ago that gave me some subjunctive verb information to read. I thought that was rather odd at the time, until I realized she was just trying to be helpful...as I am now.
"A subjunctive verb is used to communicate feelings such as wishfulness, hopefulness, or imagination - things that aren't real or true. For example, in the song 'If I Were a Rich Man' Tevye is fantasizing about all the things he would do if he were rich. He's not rich, he's just imagining, so if I were is the correct statement. I were often follows the word if, because if usually means you are wishing or imagining. In a subjunctive sentence the verb is often also followed by a statement using wishful words like would or could. For example, again from Fiddler on the Roof, 'If I were a wealthy man...I wouldn't have to work hard." (Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips, p. 67)
And I apologize that the song is now stuck in your head. You might as well let loose with the choreography. ; )
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