Re: A question about connecting sentences
| From: | Gerald Koenig <jlk@...> |
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| Date: | Thursday, September 30, 1999, 4:24 |
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>
>Christophe Grandsire <grandsir@...> wrote:
>> FFlores wrote:
>> > Why not "I want that I go"? Maybe with a subjunctive mood on "go"?
>>
>> Isn't that a typical Castillan Spanish way of making sentences? I was
>> taught that Spanish used subclauses much more than French or English and
>> that "I want to go" was more often "quiero que vaya" instead of "quiero
>> venir". But maybe I forgot things and I made a mistake.
>
>Spanish (and not only Castilian) does it, but I think it's
>the same as French in that respect. _Quiero que vaya_ is clearly
>'I want him/her/it to go' (the subjunctive mood present tense is
>the same in 1s and 3s).
It seems that the subjunctive is conveying a sense that the goer may or
may not go, it's hypothetical. Perhaps more hypothetical than when the
goer is the speaker, below, because the knowledge of the motivation or
internal state of the goer is less known. I'll refrain from saying it
in Vector Tense, but it would be one easy syllable:)
>_Quiero venir_ is 'I want to go'.
The interesting thing about the infinitive to me is that it spans
time-frames, this could mean "right now" or any time in the future. The
participle does this too, "I want a going" for example.
>Spanish never uses *_Quiero que yo vaya_ 'I want that I go', though it
>would be grammatical (strictly speaking).
It seems to me that that would be saying one wants to maybe go, "I want
that I might go", instead of definitely, so it would in a way be a
self-contradiction even though it is grammatically correct. It would be
wierd semantics in perfect grammar. Although there may be circumstances
where one would want it to be doubtful that there will be or is an
event of going. It's not the same as "I might want to go". I think a
lot of the reason for the disuse of the subjunctive in English is vague
constructions like this: "I wish that I might go", where "might" really
means having permission or being able to go; rather than simply
virtualizing the event of going. I have tried to sort these things out
in Vector Tense, (end commercial).
Jerry