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What is meant by "In German, the same effect is obtained by the introduction of a particle," in the Generic mood section? I don't think this is right, but I can't find anything definite. German works similar to English in that the "Generic" mood can be formed by omitting the article, but a definite article can also be used. e.g. "Hasen sind schnell" translates as "Rabbits are fast," but "Die Hasen sind schnell" could be translated as "Rabbits are fast," or "The rabbits are fast," depending on context.
--Okj579 (talk) 16:28, 9 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]
The article refers to the subjunctive as referring to something desirable, but I don't think that's right, on two counts. First, if it's used that way, it ought to be equally applicable to things that are undesirable. Second, it can be used for possible outcomes which are neither desirable nor undesirable. "I doubt that he be a professor", is, I think, subjunctive, but this subject isn't my forte. --Marshall "Unfree" Price 172.56.27.84 (talk) 01:13, 26 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
"I doubt that he be a professor" would be a misuse of the subjunctive I think. In that statement, the speaker is expressing doubt about a 'fact'. The speaker is expressing the idea that 'That man is not a professor.' "I don't recommend he be a professor in the future" would be subjunctive. Here, the man in question is not a professor, and the speaker thinks it's a bad idea for him to go that route. This has to do with the speakers view or intent.
I think a better question of "Desirable" as an accurate word or not is illustrated better another way. "My brother works a hundred hours a week. He has a big family so it's necessary that he work so hard." This is, from the speakers standpoint, both a statement of fact and the way things ought to be. ~~ — Preceding unsigned comment added by Eggmann (talk • contribs) 13:47, 7 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]
"... and in some dialects, the subjunctive (as in 'I suggest you be quiet')."
I'm not an academic expert on this subject, but I'm not sure that's the best example to make this point. (Let's twist around the sentence so that the verb's subjunctive nature is clear: "He suggests I be quiet" doesn't seem so much like a softened imperative.)
I would argue that there are a few uses of subjunctive in English that are absolutely uniform, and a situation like this is one of them.
There are many situations in English where the subjunctive and indicative forms are identical. In these cases, the use of a verb may very well be subjunctive, so the use of subjunctive per se might not be as rare as it appears on the surface. But in many such cases, people don't know one way or the other what they're doing, and in practical terms it doesn't matter much.
If you want a case where you get dialect differences, try something like "If I were a rich man" vs. "If I was a rich man."
I'm the one who added the abbreviation here, but I've merely copied it from List of glossing abbreviations. I have absolutely no opinion on how common it is. Just a few thoughts. The list of abbreviations in the Leipzig Glossing Rules is simply a small set of frequently used abbreviations, there doesn't exist a standard, individual linguists choose whatever abbreviation suits their needs and consequently there's substantial variation in the literature. And at any rate, realis is usually the unmarked "mood", so the need to indicate it in glossing probably doesn't arise often, and when it does arise, I'd imagine the need is more commonly met by the use of labels for more specific subtypes, like indicative (IND: an abbreviation that happens to be included in the Leipzig list). – Uanfala (talk)23:13, 4 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not sure how to fix this myself, but I see that the latvian and other pages are missing from the related pages. Maybe someone who knows their way around wikipedia can fix this.
