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Bring Back the Subjunctive!

  Tags: Morphology | English
 Language Learning Forum : Philological Room Post Reply
29 messages over 4 pages: 1 2 3 4  Next >>
kanewai
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 Message 1 of 29
09 March 2012 at 2:52am | IP Logged 
Subtitle: Grammar habits I've picked up while studying foreign languages.

Two days ago I started tackling the Subjunctive in French. Today I can't seem to stop using it ... in English. I don't know if I always have, and am just more aware of it now, or if studying the subjunctive in French has triggered its use in English.   

I remember having a similar experience last year after studying the Spanish subjunctive. I thought it sounded very elegant, and wanted to bring it back to every-day English!

I wonder if anyone else finds that their native tongue is impacted by studying other languages?

Edited by kanewai on 09 March 2012 at 2:54am

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Chung
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 Message 2 of 29
09 March 2012 at 3:38am | IP Logged 
kanewai wrote:
Subtitle: Grammar habits I've picked up while studying foreign languages.

Two days ago I started tackling the Subjunctive in French. Today I can't seem to stop using it ... in English. I don't know if I always have, and am just more aware of it now, or if studying the subjunctive in French has triggered its use in English.   

I remember having a similar experience last year after studying the Spanish subjunctive. I thought it sounded very elegant, and wanted to bring it back to every-day English!

I wonder if anyone else finds that their native tongue is impacted by studying other languages?


Yessir, as seen here
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eggcluck
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 Message 3 of 29
09 March 2012 at 5:31am | IP Logged 
Well I was not sure what the subjuntive was so I had to look it up, thoguh from the example sentences I saw it woudl seem to be that the subjunctive still sees a fair bit of use within my particular part of the uk at least. Particulary in the more rural regions and among older folk.

Language changes are about trends and fads sometimes I feel. So if you stasrt using in the states and it catches on with those around you if they like it, maybe it will then spread a bit more :P Though I would doubt it, things that fall out of use fall out fo use for a reason!
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tibbles
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 Message 4 of 29
09 March 2012 at 7:10am | IP Logged 
Don't use the subjunctive too much. As the FSI Spanish text says, many learners develop "subjunctivitus" from overuse. :)
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Lucky Charms
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 Message 5 of 29
09 March 2012 at 9:11am | IP Logged 
I might have started distinguishing between "who" and "whom" because of German.

Besides that, I've adopted mannerisms and ways of phrasing things in English that might
not be so natural to a monolingual English speaker, which I've described in the thread
that Chung linked above.
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Majka
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 Message 6 of 29
09 March 2012 at 9:42am | IP Logged 
As already mentioned, the influence is real and twofold:

Positive influence:
I am more aware of correct grammar and wording. It influences my writing and literary spoken language positively.

Negative influence:
I have to check myself very carefully not to use phrases translated from foreign language. The problem are not completely different sayings, but near identical wordings.

For example one of my pet peeves is the use of the phrase "it is not my cup of tea" in Czech (the Czech equivalent would be "it is not my parquet"). I have found it in books, in news... For me, it is a sure sign of sloppy translation. And it shouldn't be found in a work of professional in media.

In fact, this is a reason I am just giving a translation I have done into my native language to a college for proofreading.
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kman543210
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 Message 7 of 29
09 March 2012 at 10:02am | IP Logged 
I'm not sure if learning Spanish directly influenced my usage of the subjunctive in English, but I definitely use the subjunctive with if clauses such as "If Jane were here, she'd..." Learning Spanish helped me understand English grammar better as well (I definitely use whom where appropriate).
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Splog
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 Message 8 of 29
09 March 2012 at 11:02am | IP Logged 
I would be very happy if the subjunctive were brought back.


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