Today's English Grammar Lesson: Verb Modality

[3catsjackson]

There are three standard verb moods in the English language, each of which has both a standard and a passive-aggressive inflection.

Standard indicative: Joe smokes half a pack a day.
Passive-aggressive indicative: Joe smokes half a pack a day rather than care for his family or his own health.

Standard subjunctive: It is recommended that you smoke

Comments

[witchofnovember]

Did you have a determined smoker at your house? I suggest a seltzer bottle for times like that.

[3catsjackson]

This was mainly inspired by a vendor newsletter with a PA-imperative subject line ("Thank you for submitting your Q4 SoundExchange data") which caused my boss and I both to double-take and think that we'd already submitted the data.

I just picked the smoking examples since it's one of the most familiar PA-imperatives in the wild. It's been a while since I had a major butt-flinger in my backyard, though I like the seltzer idea.

[chipuni]

In other news...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!