Subordinate clause of "I thought" (Specific Languages) Language Learning Forum

Subordinate clause of "I thought"
Tags: Syntax
Share with: Delicious Digg reddit Facebook StumbleUpon
Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages

11 messages over 2 pages: 1 2

tarvos
Super Polyglot
Winner TAC 2012
Senior Member
China
likeapolyglot.wordpr
Joined 4501 days ago
5310 posts - 9399 votes

Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans
Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish

Message 9 of 11

16 October 2013 at 9:50pm | IP Logged

Josquin wrote:

tarvos wrote:

In German speech I would basically never use a
subjunctive unless I was in a very formal setting. That never happens so I always go
for an indicative in speech (also because I am too lazy to learn the subjunctive
forms). However in writing I would go for a subjunctive always.

This is true for the present subjunctive (Konjunktiv I), which is only used in formal
or written language, but the past subjunctive (Konjunktiv II) is very common in
colloquial language, especially "wäre". So if you can't produce it, you will at least
need to be able to recognize it, which may be difficult because of the typical vowel
gradation of strong verbs.

I can produce and recognise wäre but I tend to avoid it in speech (I do understand
people using a subjunctive no problem). There are some other common ones that I also
use, such as werden's forms, haben's forms and so on.
1 person has voted this message useful

1e4e6
Octoglot
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 4084 days ago
1013 posts - 1588 votes

Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Dutch, Swedish, Italian
Studies: German, Danish, Russian, Catalan

Message 10 of 11

16 October 2013 at 10:54pm | IP Logged

I am not sure if I understand the question correctly, but in Dutch I think one can say,
"Ik dacht dat het vandaag dinsdag was" and correspondingly, "Ik dacht dat het vandaag
dinsdag is". But I do not think the conjunctive is used, i.e., "Ik dacht dat het vandaag
dinsdag ware" or "Ik dacht dat het vandaag dinsdag zij", which to me I have never seen in
this context, and probably sounds quite weird, whereby the latter sounds especially odd.

Edited by 1e4e6 on 16 October 2013 at 10:58pm
1 person has voted this message useful

tarvos
Super Polyglot
Winner TAC 2012
Senior Member
China
likeapolyglot.wordpr
Joined 4501 days ago
5310 posts - 9399 votes

Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans
Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish

Message 11 of 11

16 October 2013 at 11:22pm | IP Logged

The latter you can't say. I would never use a present in direct speech in Dutch. A past
is accurate.

No, the conjunctive per se is not used anymore. But there are expressions (set phrases)
where you have to use a conjunctive form "ware het niet dat..." "het zij zo" "god zij
dank" "Moge dat bewaarheid worden" etc.

Edited by tarvos on 16 October 2013 at 11:22pm

1 person has voted this message useful

This discussion contains 11 messages over 2 pages: << Prev 1 2

If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register

Printable version

You cannot post new topics in this forum - You cannot reply to topics in this forum - You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum - You cannot create polls in this forum - You cannot vote in polls in this forum

This page was generated in 0.2656 seconds.