Subjunctive and verb tenses
Posted: Sat Mar 13, 2010 12:41 am
The following sentence was posted on a forum. The question was whether the verb should be 'lost' or 'lose.'
It is as if you had to give an interview after you lost/lose.
The answer given (by a Teacher) was 'lost' and the reason being that 'lost' goes with 'had.'
I don't understand neither why this was the answer nor the reasoning behind it.
'had' is the past subjunctive, referring to a hypothetical situation in the present time, whereas 'lost' is the past indicative, referring to a real situation in the past time.
Are verbs meant to match in form (i.e. past tense had; past tense lost) or in the time they express (i.e. had expresses present time; lose expresses present time)?
If that question is too hard to answer or decipher, here is a simpler question. Why do you think 'lost' should be used (instead of lose)?
It is as if you had to give an interview after you lost/lose.
The answer given (by a Teacher) was 'lost' and the reason being that 'lost' goes with 'had.'
I don't understand neither why this was the answer nor the reasoning behind it.
'had' is the past subjunctive, referring to a hypothetical situation in the present time, whereas 'lost' is the past indicative, referring to a real situation in the past time.
Are verbs meant to match in form (i.e. past tense had; past tense lost) or in the time they express (i.e. had expresses present time; lose expresses present time)?
If that question is too hard to answer or decipher, here is a simpler question. Why do you think 'lost' should be used (instead of lose)?