The usage of “hadn’t better” in this context

The context is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Bernice Bobs her Hair.” Oh, I wasn’t thinking about that. I was considering whether we hadn’t better bob your hair. Later on in the story, we are clarified that Bernice’s hair isn’t the Bob cut when Marjorie offers this advice. So the situation is that Bernice doesn’t have her … Read more

What mood is “if I were” in?

Wikipedia says about English subjunctive mood: In Modern English, the subjunctive is realised as a finite but tenseless clause where the main verb occurs in the bare form. Since the bare form is also used in a variety of other constructions, the English subjunctive is reflected by a clause type rather than a distinct inflectional … Read more

Why use the past simple tense in: “before I died”?

It’s The Simpsons Movie, again. Bart says this to Flanders right after he’s entered the church Flanders was in. Bart: Listen, I was wondering if before I died I could pretend I had a father who cared for me. Ned: Come here, son. There’s always room for one more in the Flanders clan. Wouldn’t it … Read more

Subjunctive vs. indicative with conditionals

I was reading this topic from March 2014 and thought Charles’s answer was great until I got to the following part: The letter claimed exactly the same as the first, namely that if his letter wasn’t published, he would be angry. Now, by the rules I have laid out you would expect that wasn’t, the … Read more

“If he come” vs. “If he comes”

I’ve found the following on the internet (https://www.jstor.org/stable/43344096) : (1). If he comes, I shall go. (2). If he come, I shall go. Here, the first sentence is in indicative mood, and the second one is in subjunctive mood. What’s the difference in meaning between these two sentences? Edit: Though the second sentence seems ungrammatical … Read more

Is “Have Fun!” in Imperative Mood?

Also, what about the following: Be safe. Think different. Drive safely. My guess is that these are, but just confirming in case there is a catch. Answer Yes. All these sentences are definitely in Imperative Mood. But don’t draw any semantic conclusions from the rather solemn sound of the grammatical term. AttributionSource : Link , … Read more