help please

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help please

by emiflo » Sat Jul 17, 2010 9:05 am
Hi guys. i just went through some materials on sentence correction today and came across an example in the verbal subjunctive portion: "She recommended that John should take the ferry".

I read that the" should take "is wrong and should be changed to "TAKE". This is because one should always use the base form of the verb in subjunctive constructions involving the "THAT " right?

I then came across a question : "the ground swell of public opinion made it inevitable that the Senate would approve the president's energy proposals.".Since I didn't see a better option than the above statement , I stuck to option A which was correct according to the authors. So my question is this : is the sentence correct, and is this an example of an exemption to the rules.I'd really love to know. Thanks.
Source: — Sentence Correction |

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by uwhusky » Sat Jul 17, 2010 9:50 am
The whole mood concept in SC book is throwing me for a loop as well. I guess the idea is to show you how the meaning of the sentence is constructed.

I don't think I am responding to the exact question you are asking, but I can tell you that:

"She recommended that John should take the ferry" is grammatically correct.

"She recommended that John take(s) the ferry" is also correct.

If you want to remove modal verb (verb that demonstrates mood) "should" from the subclause, "that John should take the ferry", then you need to make sure the verb "take" has tense.

If the meaning of the sentence is not suppose to be subjunctive, and a choice without modal verb is available that is also grammatically correct, then I guess you would go with that choice.

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