Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Of, relating to, or being a mood of a verb used in some languages for contingent or hypothetical action, action viewed subjectively, or grammatically subordinate statements.
- noun The subjunctive mood.
- noun A subjunctive construction.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Subjoined or added to something before said or written.
- In grammar, noting that mode of the verb by which is expressed condition, hypothesis, or contingency, and which is generally used in a clause subjoined or subordinate to another clause or verb, and preceded by one of certain conjunctions, especially (in English) if or though: as in the sentence “if that be the case, then I am wrong.”
- noun In grammar, the subjunctive mode.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Gram.) The subjunctive mood; also, a verb in the subjunctive mood.
- adjective Subjoined or added to something before said or written.
- adjective (Gram.) that form of a verb which express the action or state not as a fact, but only as a conception of the mind still contingent and dependent. It is commonly subjoined, or added as subordinate, to some other verb, and in English is often connected with it by
if ,that ,though ,lest ,unless ,except ,until , etc., as in the following sentence: “If there were no honey, they [bees]would have no object in visiting the flower.” Lubbock. In some languages, as in Latin and Greek, the subjunctive is often independent of any other verb, being used in wishes, commands, exhortations, etc.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective grammar, of a verb inflected to indicate that an act or state of being is possible, contingent or hypothetical, and not a fact. English examples include so
be it; Iwouldn’t if Iwere you;were I a younger man, I would fight back; I asked that heleave . - noun grammar, uncountable The
subjunctive mood . - noun countable A form in the subjunctive mood.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a mood that represents an act or state (not as a fact but) as contingent or possible
- adjective relating to a mood of verbs
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Can you explain to me what the term subjunctive means?
Archive 2007-10-01 StyleyGeek 2007
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Can you explain to me what the term subjunctive means?
I see through your cunning ploy StyleyGeek 2007
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Be that as it may (a subjunctive phrase) most English subjunctive is in the form of word construction.
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When I wrote that I'd like to get rid of the subjunctive in Spanish, it was said mostly tongue in cheek because, as a former Spanish teacher, I was always telling my students how important the subjunctive is in Spanish and, yes, it's used a lot, and, yes, it's used in everyday conversation, not just in writing and formal speech.
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When I wrote that I'd like to get rid of the subjunctive in Spanish, it was said mostly tongue in cheek because, as a former Spanish teacher, I was always telling my students how important the subjunctive is in Spanish and, yes, it's used a lot, and, yes, it's used in everyday conversation, not just in writing and formal speech.
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When I wrote that I'd like to get rid of the subjunctive in Spanish, it was said mostly tongue in cheek because, as a former Spanish teacher, I was always telling my students how important the subjunctive is in Spanish and, yes, it's used a lot, and, yes, it's used in everyday conversation, not just in writing and formal speech.
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Be that as it may (a subjunctive phrase) most English subjunctive is in the form of word construction.
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When I wrote that I'd like to get rid of the subjunctive in Spanish, it was said mostly tongue in cheek because, as a former Spanish teacher, I was always telling my students how important the subjunctive is in Spanish and, yes, it's used a lot, and, yes, it's used in everyday conversation, not just in writing and formal speech.
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Be that as it may (a subjunctive phrase) most English subjunctive is in the form of word construction.
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Be that as it may (a subjunctive phrase) most English subjunctive is in the form of word construction.
quotato commented on the word subjunctive
I am really getting tired of discovering new words that keep popping up out of nowhere...
June 13, 2008
slumry commented on the word subjunctive
Oh, what has become of the subjunctive?
May 7, 2015
rolig commented on the word subjunctive
It's still alive and healthy in my idiolect.
May 8, 2015