Ear-grating ingrates (was: Re: The phrase 'I'd like...')

Christophe écrit:

>En réponse à Pablo David Flores
>
>>I have a question for Spanish-speakers (L1 and otherwise)
>>about the subjunctive and the conditional: is it common to
>>substitute one for the other? In my dialect it's become
>>increasingly common to hear "si" + conditional instead of
>>"si" + subjunctive. It really grates on my ears, especially
>>when supposedly educated people profer such syntax. ;)
>
>Well, this awful and deplorable phenomenon doesn't happen only in
>Spanish. In French, the indicative imperfect after "si" (use where
>Spanish would use the subjunctive imperfect) is sometimes replaced
>by the conditional, which really grates on my ears too. It's not
>even a dialectical phenomenon, just something like a fashion trend,
>which annoys me even more.
Ah, mais en anglais aussi. "If I would have known, I wouldn't have
done that." seems to be gaining currency in some circles over "If I
*had* known, I wouldn't ......". Fingernails down a blackboard for
me. Maybe it's an anglicisme gone horribly wrong in other Eurolang
countries. Hopefully, I'll be on the other side of the grass by the
time this becomes universally accepted English.

O tempora, o mores!

Kou

Reply