everything's subjective, or is it subjunctive?

Prawn · Mar 19, 2007

[FONT=&quot]Pick one!
On his first trip to Gaza, Akiva had felt as if he were/was in a movie and someone had slowed down the action.[/FONT]

Flay · Mar 19, 2007

I'd say were; but I'm a Canuck, & for some reason we seem to be especially fond of the subjunctive mood. Theodore Bernstein said thirty years ago that the subjunctive was vanishing from written English. It's not quite dead yet, though.

maestrowork · Mar 19, 2007

In this case, I would go with "were" (subjunctive). The fact is that he is NOT in a movie with slow motion.

Prawn · Mar 19, 2007

Thanks, that's what I thought too. I shouldn't have listened to MS Word's grammar check.
P

Tish Davidson · Mar 19, 2007

Were. It's subjunctive contrary to fact. He is not actually in a movie.

Deleted member 42 · Mar 19, 2007

Were, dude. Totally. I know it seems odd since were is usually plural, but . . . it's the subjunctive form.

Maryn · Mar 20, 2007

I remain astonished that anybody who writes well leaves Word's grammar check on. C'mon, Prawn, trust your gut and turn that sucker off. You're a writer! (And we won't tell a soul if you turn it on to check your manuscript one time, just before you submit it. Deal?)

Maryn, who thinks it's probably not possible to program a good grammar checker

Jamesaritchie · Mar 20, 2007

Maryn said:
I remain astonished that anybody who writes well leaves Word's grammar check on. C'mon, Prawn, trust your gut and turn that sucker off. You're a writer! (And we won't tell a soul if you turn it on to check your manuscript one time, just before you submit it. Deal?)

Maryn, who thinks it's probably not possible to program a good grammar checker

Well, I do leave it turned on. I just don't trust it. But if a writer actually bothers to look at the rules the grammar check displays, it's possible to learn a great deal about grammar.

Prawn · Mar 20, 2007

Maryn said:
I remain astonished that anybody who writes well leaves Word's grammar check on. C'mon, Prawn, trust your gut and turn that sucker off. You're a writer! (And we won't tell a soul if you turn it on to check your manuscript one time, just before you submit it. Deal?)

Maryn, who thinks it's probably not possible to program a good grammar checker

My novel is done. I didn't even spell check it until I finished the rough draft. It took me two and a half hours!

The grammar checker quit underlining after 30K words, and now that it is all spellchecked, the grammar checker has come back to life, and underlined the sentence I posted.

Tish Davidson · Mar 20, 2007

Maryn said:
I remain astonished that anybody who writes well leaves Word's grammar check on. C'mon, Prawn, trust your gut and turn that sucker off. You're a writer! (And we won't tell a soul if you turn it on to check your manuscript one time, just before you submit it. Deal?)

Maryn, who thinks it's probably not possible to program a good grammar checker

I leave it on, but I use my brain, too. It is especially helpful if you set the optional settings to flag sentences in passive voice.

everything's subjective, or is it subjunctive?

Prawn

Writing is finite,revising infinite

Flay

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

Prawn

Writing is finite,revising infinite

Tish Davidson

Deleted member 42

Maryn

I Tried

Jamesaritchie

Prawn

Writing is finite,revising infinite

Tish Davidson