The subjunctive inclination is ... The part of speech is the verb. Subjunctive mood - examples

As a part of speech, the verb performs an important function of denoting various actions. In Russian, as in any other language, it is extremely difficult to manage without it. What are its main forms, how are they formed and what are they used for?

About the verb

They can be static or dynamic, but they all express some kind of action. Of course, we are talking about verbs, which are an important part of the language. As a rule, they have a huge number of different forms, denoting different time periods, activity or passivity, subject and some other characteristics. In the Russian language, there are many such options, although Europeans, as a rule, do not lag behind, but their grammatical constructions are built somewhat more logically. In addition, modality or verbs-ligaments play a much smaller role in us, their use is not always clear and regulated.

Forms

Conjugation, that is, a change in persons and numbers, as well as an indication of the period of time when the action takes place, is what most people think when it comes to metamorphoses of verbs. But these are not the only options. In addition, there is still an active and passive voice, as well as the infinitive, participle and gerundive, the latter two sometimes being singled out in separate parts of speech, but more often considered special forms of the verb expressing side effects.

And, of course, do not forget that there is such a category as an indicative, imperative, subjunctive mood. Thus, they divide the whole set of verbs into three large groups and have serious differences between themselves. They will be discussed further on.

About inclinations

One of the most important grammatical categories or classifications of verb forms has a criterion for its special property. It's just about mood. The subjunctive is when talking about events that may or might happen. It is this form that is used, as it is, for example, about dreams. In another way, it is called conditional. An indicative, or indicative, is used simply to describe what is happening or what has been and will be, it is to him that most of the forms belong, including those obtained by conjugation. It is the most neutral. Finally, the imperative, or imperative, is used in incentive proposals, when giving orders, formulating requests, and for other similar purposes.

Thus, each of the inclinations has its own function and role, which is extremely difficult to transfer to other constructions, that is, to express the same thing, but in other ways. All of them have their own characteristics, but the most interesting is the subjunctive. After all, it is through it that unrealized events are expressed.

Signs of the subjunctive

First of all, it is a particle "would", which in this case is an integral part of the verb form. Sometimes it can join other words, forming a slightly different structure, for example, "to sing," "to be," etc. Both of these forms are complex compared to the others, which consist of only one grammatical unit.

In addition, the subjunctive mood is a design that is easy to define by its meaning, because it denotes events that have not come true, that is, which are in the realm of the unrealizable. Thus, it is not difficult to single out this form in the text.

Also, the subjunctive (or conditional), like the imperative, is an impersonal form of the verb. This means that it has only one form with minor changes in the endings. What in it is still characteristic?

Features

The subjunctive inclination is, although not unique to the Russian language, but it has some interesting features and uses.

It seems rather strange that even if the subjunctive mood of the verb is used in relation to events in any time, the form still expresses the past, although historically it had a slightly different meaning. On the other hand, this is quite logical, because we are talking about a situation that did not take place in the past and, perhaps, will not take place in the present or in the future, that is, it is not realized. From this perspective, the form of the subjunctive mood of the verb in dependent sentences like "I want him to sing" also looks appropriate, since the action expressed with it has not happened yet. All this should be remembered when drafting proposals, as well as when translating conditional constructions from foreign languages into Russian.

Unlike other languages, it is this verb form that is used in both parts of the complex conditional sentence - both in the main and in the dependent.

There are other interesting constructions, and philologists are arguing about whether they can be attributed to the subjunctive mood. An example can be:

Eh, I would have more money, but more!

He would marry.

In the first example, there is not even a verb, although its residual presence is obvious. Nevertheless, such a design so far refers to the boundary and can not be uniquely determined. The second more explicitly refers to the conditional mood, although an infinitive is used instead of the past tense. There are many such constructions, and this only confirms the wealth and variety of techniques in the Russian language.

In the past time

Regardless of what events are discussed, conditional sentences use the same form - the subjunctive mood. The table in this case would be inconvenient, so it's easier to explain this with examples.

If yesterday there was no rain, we would go to the cinema.

He would have called if he'd known your phone number.

Here, as can be seen, the situation can illustrate as a completely unrealizable event due to the fact that there were no suitable conditions in the past, and what else can be realized, but this has not happened yet.

Present

To express the current situation, the subjunctive mood can also be used. The examples given below have a slight tint of the past tense, but this is more likely due to the fact that once a different situation was realized that did not lead to the circumstances that were assumed in the present.

If I now had a dog, I would play with it.

If I had not been injured then I would have been a famous footballer now.

Thus, the subjunctive can also serve to indicate a possible development of events in the event that something does not happen, or vice versa - happened in the past.

In future

In relation to events that are yet to be realized, but it is not known whether this happens, the subjunctive mood is not directly used. It can be present, but then the attitude to the future will be understood only from the context. In the usual case, instead, a conditional sentence is obtained, in which there are no difficulties or singularities:

If it's sunny tomorrow, we'll go to the beach.

If we go to London next year, you'll have to learn English.

There is no question of a subjunctive mood, although, perhaps, the events in question are not going to be realized. This is a drawback - the inability to accurately express confidence or doubt whether this or that will take place.

Analogues in other languages

In English strict notions there is no inclination, but there are constructions expressing convention, that is, having the same function. They are called conditional or if clauses and are divided into several types. The first two varieties do not carry the same meaning as the subjunctive mood in Russian, but the others are a complete analog. In this sense, English is somewhat richer.

"Zero" and the first types, in fact, reflect events that may or may be implemented. Here they relate to the subjunctive mood, but will be translated through conventional conditional sentences.

The second type of conditional sentences express an action that seems unlikely, but still real. But the third one is not, because it belongs to the past. This is also the difference from the Russian language, because in English the degree of confidence in whether the event will take place is present. But we do not. Both these varieties are translated into Russian, and for this, the subjunctive mood of the verb is used. In other European languages similar constructions are also present and are actively used in speech. And the variety of verbal forms in them, as a rule, is higher than in Russian.

There are also adverbs, in which there are no moods at all, or more than a dozen. Russian can not be called a rich language in this respect, but for the needs of a fairly accurate expression of their thoughts this set is still quite enough. In the future, new forms may arise for even more appropriate formulations, but so far the subjunctive mood is a somewhat reduced form of what can be.