Your LetterPress editor feels moodiness is justified—mostly because, contrary to all expectations, the Kansas wintertime is cold and snowy. Okay, maybe that’s not the biggest shockbomb on the web, but I’m cold and grumpy. Anyway, do your quiz, sit your exam, however you say it in your part of the world. Circle the correct verb form for each example below.
(1) Ms. Grumpysnit insisted that Bernard (shovel / shovels) the walk before going to school.
(2) If only Bernard (has / had) a backbone!
(3) I called Bernard on the phone and said, “(Lets / Let’s) sneak out before Grumpysnit wakes up!”
(4) “It’s no good,” replied Bernard miserably. “If she (caught / catches) me, I’ll be shoveling from now until April.”
(5) “If I (was / were) you,” I said, “I’d blow this town and move to Bermuda.”
ANSWERS
(1) Ms. Grumpysnit insisted that Bernard shovel the walk before going to school.
Insist is a word that belongs to the subjunctive camp. It’s still hypothetical whether or not Bernard will follow through.
(2) If only Bernard had a backbone!
But clearly Bernard does not: subjunctive.
(3) I called Bernard on the phone and said, “Let’s sneak out before Grumpysnit wakes up!”
Let’s is a contraction: let + us. As an inclusive imperative (also called a first-person imperative), it needs an apostrophe.
(4) “It’s no good,” replied Bernard miserably. “If she catches me, I’ll be shoveling from now until April.”
Bernard is predicting the future, not dreaming about something that can’t happen: indicative mood. Another clue is the I’ll. Otherwise the sentence would read: “If she caught me, I would be shoveling ...”
(5) “If I (was / were) you,” I said, “I’d blow this town and move to Bermuda.”
If I were you ... but I’m not. The subjunctive lives in Hypothetical World.
Who cares if verbs and subjects agree? Grumpy grammar ladies, that’s who. Come back next week and read all about it.
I WISH more teachers and parents cared.
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