2011-03-14, 01:52 PM
That's because sometimes, especially in American English (as commoners speak it), we just use the past tense instead of the future subjunctive mood.
Future: Were I to win the lottery, I would surely pass out from the surprise.
Future: If I won the lottery, I'd probably pass out from surprise.
"Were I to win" sounds uppity and too proper. A different way to word it would be:
Future: If I were to win the lottery...
Also, this sentence:
Past: If I were you, I would tap that ass.
It's not really past tense, I don't feel like. Because it's like saying, "If I were you right now, I would tap that ass." So it feels like present tense. Even the first example is weird.
Past: "If I would have won the lottery, I would be much better off." <-- any american would understand that as past tense
So yeah, people who speak English generally don't use the subjunctive - definitely not as much as other languages do.
Future: Were I to win the lottery, I would surely pass out from the surprise.
Future: If I won the lottery, I'd probably pass out from surprise.
"Were I to win" sounds uppity and too proper. A different way to word it would be:
Future: If I were to win the lottery...
Also, this sentence:
Past: If I were you, I would tap that ass.
It's not really past tense, I don't feel like. Because it's like saying, "If I were you right now, I would tap that ass." So it feels like present tense. Even the first example is weird.
Past: "If I would have won the lottery, I would be much better off." <-- any american would understand that as past tense
So yeah, people who speak English generally don't use the subjunctive - definitely not as much as other languages do.