31 October, 2007

In which Nick Jacobson is attracted to the subjunctive

Tonight, dear readers, as Nick Jacobson, Pierce "dead to me" Wade, and I were studying for our Catullus midterm, I remarked that all of us were a little rusty on our result clauses and ought to brush up. We hauled out the ol' grammar, and in the process of investigating result clauses discovered the unsung but essential "subjunctive by attraction," in which a normally indicative verb can be sucked into the subjunctive if it is in a subordinate clause within indirect discrourse or a result clause. This appeared to resolve a difficulty we'd encountered earlier in our review, so Nick J turned back to the problematic sentence, and declared, with the hallmark sincerity of his nature, "Oh my God! It's in a result clause AND in indirect discourse. That verb never had a chance!"

This is why none of us should ever get laid.

As for Pierce Wade: Pedicabo te et irrumabo. And that's a promise.