Re: Grammatical Summary of Kemata

"Thomas R. Wier" wrote:
>   (a) The judge suggested that he be put in confinement.
>   (b) The judge suggested that he is put in confinement.
>
> The subjunctive in (a) implies that the judge wants some particular
> action to occur; the indicative in (b) implies that the judge thinks
> that a particular set of cirumstances is the case, but does not
> comment on whether that is a good or a bad thing.
>
> (Not all English speakers distinguish between these two;  the
> lack of such a distinction seems to be especially common in
> Britain as opposed to any of her former colonies.)

I think most Americans would use an auxiliary
rather than a bare subjunctive: "...that he should be..."
(or in this case, undoing the passive, a gerund:
"...suggested putting him...")


--
Anton Sherwood  --  http://www.ogre.nu/

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