Text 1043, 45 rader
Skriven 2006-01-03 11:45:37 av Dallas Hinton (1:153/715.0)
   Kommentar till text 1036 av Michael Dukelsky (2:5020/1042)
Ärende: Teaching English
========================
Hi Michael -- on Jan 02 2006 at 13:40, you wrote:

 DH> relationships are critical it becomes very important that the
 DH> questioner make clear what is being asked,

MD> Could you please explain the usage of the verb "make" here? Is it
MD> the infinitive and you have just omitted "to" in front of "make"? Or
MD> is it the third person singular of Present Indefinite and you have
MD> omitted the ending -s?

According to my sources, the word "make" in the example is being used as a
subjunctive. To quote:

   English has had a subjunctive mood since Old English times, but most of
   the functions of the old subjunctive have been taken over by auxiliary
   verbs like "may" and "should", and the subjunctive survives only in very
   limited situations. It has a present and past form. The present form is
   identical to the base form of the verb, so you only notice it in the
   third person singular, which has no final -s, and in the case of the
   verb "be", which has the form "be" instead of "am", "is", and "are".
   The past subjunctive is identical with the past tense except in the
   case of the verb "be", which uses "were" for all persons: "If I were
   rich...:, "if he were rich...", "If they were rich...".

   The present subjunctive is most familiar to us in formulaic
   expressions such as "God help him", "be that as it may", "come what
   may", and "suffice it to say". It also occurs in "that" clauses used
   to state commands or to express intentions or necessity:

   We insist that he "do" the job properly.
   The committee proposes that she "be" appointed treasurer immediately.
   It is essential that we "be" informed of your plans.

from The American Heritage Book of English Usage, 1996 (online:
http://www.bartleby.com/64/C001/061.html)

I probably shouldn't have used the subjunctive form; not only is using it
somewhat outdated but it does tend to sound more formal than is preferred
today. It probably comes from too many years of writing formal papers during my
university career!

Cheers... Dallas

--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin: The BandMaster, Vancouver CANADA [604 266-1977] (1:153/715)