Style

This is a term that is used to characterize the peculiarities that distinguish a writer or a composition. Correctne and clearne properly belong to the domain of diction ; simplicity, concisene , gravity, elegance, diffusene , floridity, force, feeblene , coarsene , etc., belong to the domain of style . Subjunctive Mood. This mood is unpopular with not a few now-a-day grammarians. One says that it is rapidly falling into disuse; that, in fact, there is good reason to suppose it will soon become obsolete. Another says that it would, perhaps, be better to abolish it entirely, as its use is a continual source of dispute among grammarians and of perplexity to schools. Another says that it is a universal stumbling-block; that nobody seems to understand it, although almost everybody attempts to use it. That the subjunctive mood is much le used now than it was a hundred years ago is certain, but that it is obsolescent is very far from certain. It would not be easy, I think, to find a single contemporary writer who does not use it. That it is not always easy to determine what form of it we should employ is very true; but if we are justified in abolishing it altogether, as Mr. Chandler suggests, because its correct use is not always easy, then we are also justified in abolishing the use of shall and will , and of the prepositions, for surely their right use is likewise at times most puzzling. Meanwhile, most persons will think it well to learn to use the subjunctive mood properly. With that object in view, one can not, perhaps, do better than to attend to what Dr. Alexander Bain, Profe or of Logic in the University of Aberdeen, says upon the subject. In Profe or Bain's "Higher English Grammar" we find: "In subordinate clauses.—In a clause expre ing a condition, and introduced by a conjunction of condition, the verb is sometimes, but not always, in the subjunctive mood: 'If I be able,' 'if I were strong enough,' 'if thou should come.' "The subjunctive inflexions have been wholly lost. The sense that something is wanting appears to have led many writers to use indicative forms where the subjunctive might be expected. The tendency appears strongest in the case of 'wert,' which is now used as indicative (for 'wast') only in poetical or elevated language. "The following is the rule given for the use of the subjunctive mood: "When in a conditional clause it is intended to expre doubt or denial, use the subjunctive mood. [30] 'If I were sure of what you tell me, I would go.' "When the conditional clause is affirmative and certain , the verb is indicative : 'If that is the case' (as you now tell me, and as I believe), 'I can understand you.' This is equivalent to a clause of a umption, or supposition: 'That being the case,' 'inasmuch as that is the case,' etc. "As futurity is by its nature uncertain, the subjunctive is extensively used for future conditionality: 'If it rain , we shall not be able to go'; 'if I be well'; 'if he come shortly'; 'if thou return at all in peace'; 'though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.' These events are all in the uncertain future, and are put in the subjunctive. [31] "A future result or consequence is expre ed by the subjunctive in such instances as these: 'I will wait till he return '; 'no fear lest dinner cool '; 'thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die '; 'take heed lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting.' "Uncertainty as to a past event may arise from our own ignorance, in which case the subjunctive is properly employed, and serves the useful purpose of distinguishing our ignorance from our knowledge. 'If any of my readers has looked with so little attention upon the world around him'; this would mean—'as I know that they have.' The meaning intended is probably—'as I do not know whether they have or not,' and therefore the subjunctive 'have' is preferable. 'If ignorance is bli ,' which I (ironically) admit. Had Gray been speaking seriously, he would have said, 'if ignorance be bli ,' he himself di enting from the proposition. "A wish contrary to the fact takes the subjunctive: 'I wish he were here' (which he is not). "An intention not yet carried out is also subjunctive: 'The sentence is that you be imprisoned.' "The only correct form of the future subjunctive is—'if I should.' We may say, 'I do not know whether or not I shall come'; but 'if I shall come,' expre ing a condition, is not an English construction. 'If he will' has a real meaning, as being the present subjunctive of the verb 'will': 'if he be willing,' 'if he have the will.' It is in accordance with good usage to expre a future subjunctive meaning by a present tense; but in that case the form must be strictly subjunctive, and not indicative. 'If any member absents himself, he shall forfeit a penny for the use of the club'; this ought to be either 'absent,' or 'should absent.' 'If thou neglect est or doest unwillingly what I command thee, I will rack thee with old cramps'; better, 'if thou neglect or do unwillingly,' or 'if thou should neglect.' The indicative would be justified by the speaker's belief that the supposition is sure to turn out to be the fact. "The past subjunctive may imply denial; as, 'if the book were in the library (as it is not), it should be at your service.' "'If the book be in the library,' means, 'I do not know whether it be or not.' We have thus the power of discriminating three different suppositions. 'If the book is in the library' (as I know it is); 'if it be ' (I am uncertain); 'if it were ' (as I know it is not). So, 'if it rains,' 'if it rain,' 'if it rained.' 'Nay, and the villains march wide between the legs, as if they had gyves on,' implying that they had not. "The same power of the past tense is exemplified in 'if I could , I would,' which means, 'I can not'; whereas, 'if I can, I will,' means 'I do not know.' "The past subjunctive may be expre ed by an inversion: ' Had I the power,' ' were I as I have been.' "In Principal Clauses.—The principal clause in a conditional statement also takes the subjunctive form when it refers to what is future and contingent, and when it refers to what is past and uncertain, or denied. 'If he should try, he would succeed'; 'if I had seen him, I should have asked him.' "The usual forms of the subjunctive in the principal clause are 'would,' 'should,' 'would have,' 'should have'; and it is to be noted that in this application the second persons take the inflexional ending of the indicative: 'shouldst,' 'wouldst.' "'If 'twere done when 'tis done, then 't were (would be) well It were (should be) done quickly.' "The English idiom appears sometimes to permit the use of an indicative where we should expect a subjunctive form. 'Many acts, that had been otherwise blamable, were employed'; 'I had fainted, unle I had believed,' etc. "'Which else lie furled and shrouded in the soul.' "In 'else' there is implied a conditional clause that would suit 'lie'; or the present may be regarded as a more vivid form of expre ion. 'Had' may be indicative; just as we sometimes find pluperfect indicative for pluperfect subjunctive in the same circumstances in Latin. We may refer it to the general tendency, as already seen in the uses of 'could,' 'would,' 'should,' etc., to expre conditionality by a past tense; or the indicative may be used as a more direct and vivid mode. 'Had' may be subjunctive; 'I had fainted' is, in construction, analogous to 'I should have fainted'; the word for futurity, 'shall,' not being nece ary to the sense, is withdrawn, and its past inflexion transferred to 'have.' Compare Germ. würde haben and hätte ." In addition to the foregoing, we find in Profe or Bain's "Composition Grammar" the following: "The case most suited to the subjunctive is contingent futurity , or the expre ion of an event unknown absolutely, as being still in the future: 'If to-morrow be fine, I will walk with you.' "'Unle I were prepared,' insinuates pretty strongly that I am or am not prepared, according to the manner of the principal clause. "'What's a tall man unle he fight ?' "'The sword hath ended him: so shall it thee, Unle thou yield thee as my prisoner.' "'Who but must laugh, if such a man there be ? Who would not weep, if Atticus were he?' "'I am to second Ion if he fail '; the failing is left quite doubtful. 'I should very imperfectly execute the task which I have undertaken if I were merely to treat of battles and sieges.' Macaulay thus implies that the scope of his work is to be wider than mere battles and sieges. "The subjunctive appears in some other constructions. 'I hope to see the exhibition before it close '; 'wait till he return '; 'thou shall stand by the river's brink against he come '; 'take heed lest pa ion sway thy judgment'; 'speak to me, though it be in wrath'; 'if he smite him with an instrument of iron so that he die , he is a murderer'; 'beware this night that thou cro not my footsteps' (Shelley). "Again. 'Whatever this be '; 'whoever he be '; 'howe'er it be ' (Tennyson); and such like. "'And as long , O God, as she Have a grain of love for me, So long, no doubt, no doubt, Shall I nurse in my dark heart, However weary, a spark of will Not to be trampled out.' "The Future Subjunctive is given in our scheme of the verb as 'should' in all persons: 'If I should, if thou should, if he should.' In old English, we have 'thou shouldst ': 'if thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities.' "An inverted conditional form has taken deep root in our language, and may be regarded as an elegant and forcible variety. While dispensing with the conjunction, it does not cause ambiguity; neverthele , conditionality is well marked. "' If you should abandon your Penelope and your home for Calypso, ——': ' should you abandon ——.' "' Go not my horse the better, I must become a borrower of the night For a dark hour or twain.' "'Here had we now our country's honor roof'd Were the graced person of our Banquo present.' "' Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damn'd, Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell, Be thy intents wicked or charitable, Thou com'st in such a questionable shape That I will speak to thee.' "' Come one, come all, this rock shall fly From its firm base as soon as I.'—Scott. "The following examples are given by Mätzner: "'Varney's communications, be they what they might, were operating in his favor.'—Scott. "'Governing persons, were they never so insignificant intrinsically, have for most part plenty of Memoir-writers.'—Carlyle. "'Even were I disposed, I could not gratify the reader.'—Warren. "'Bring them back to me, cost what it may.'—Cole ridge, 'Wal lens tein.' "'And will you, nill you, I will marry you.'—'Taming of the Shrew.' " Were is used in the principal clause for 'should be' or 'would be.' [32] "'I were (=should be) a fool, not le than if a panther Were panic-stricken by the antelope's eye, If she escape me.'—Shelley. "'Were you but riding forth to air yourself, Such parting were too petty.' "'He were (=would be) no lion, were not Romans hinds.' "'Should he be roused out of his sleep to-night,... It were not well; indeed it were not well.'—Shelley. " Had is sometimes used in the principal clause for 'should have' or 'would have.' [33] "'Had I known this before we set out, I think I had (= would have) remained at home.'—Scott. "'Hadst thou been kill'd when first thou didst presume, Thou hadst not lived to kill a son of mine.' "'If he Had killed me, he had done a kinder deed.' "'For once he had been ta'en or slain, An it had not been his ministry.'—Scott. "'If thou hadst said him nay, it had been sin.' [34] "' Had better, rather, best, as lief, as well, etc.,' is a form that is explained under this heading. 'Had' stands for 'would have.' The exploded notion that 'had' is a corrupted 'would' must be guarded against. "'I had as lief not be.' That is—'I would as lief have not ( to ) be' = 'I would as willingly (or as soon) have non-existence.' "' Had you rather Cæsar were living——?' ' Would you rather have ( would you prefer that) Cæsar were living?' "'He had better reconsider the matter' is 'he would better have ( to ) reconsider the matter.' "'I had rather be a kitten and cry mew Than one of these same metre ballad-mongers; I had rather hear a brazen canstick turned.' "Let us compare this form with another that appears side by side with it in early writers. (Cp. Lat. 'habeo' and 'mihi est.') "The construction of 'had' is thus illustrated in Chaucer, as in—Nonne Prestes Tale, 300: "'By God, I hadde levere than my scherte, That ye hadde rad his legend, as I have.' "Compare now: "'Ah me were levere with lawe loose my lyf Then so to fote hem falle .'—Wright, 'Polit. S.' "Here 'were' is unquestionably for 'would be'; and the whole expre ion might be given by 'had,' thus: 'Ah, I hadde levere ——,' '(to) loose ' and '(to) falle ,' changing from subjects of 'were' to objects of 'hadde.' "So, in the Chaucer example above, if we substitute 'be' for 'have,' we shall get the same meaning, thus: 'By God, me were levere ——.' The interchange helps us to see more clearly that 'hadde' is to be explained as subjunctive for 'would have.'" See Indicative and Subjunctive . Such. "I have never before seen such a large ox." By a little transposing of the words of this sentence, we have, "I have never before seen an ox such large," which makes it quite clear that we should say so large an ox and not such a large ox . As proof that this error in the use of such is common, we find in Mr. George Washington Moon's "Dean's English and Bad English," the sentence, "With all due deference to such a high authority on such a very important matter." With a little transposing, this sentence is made to read, "With all due deference to an authority such high on a matter such very important." It is clear that the sentence should read, "With all due deference to so high an authority on so very important a matter." The phrases, such a handsome, such a lovely, such a long, such narrow, etc., are incorrect, and should be so handsome, so lovely, so long, and so on.