# Would is subjunctive, isn't it?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-is-subjunctive-isnt-it/1343
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
**Created:** [December 1, 1999, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-is-subjunctive-isnt-it/1343 "1999-12-01T20:00:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)
#### Post date: [December 1, 1999, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-is-subjunctive-isnt-it/1343/1 "1999-12-01T20:00:00Z")
Today’s mailbag article, [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mwont.html](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mwont.html) , parenthetically states in the last paragraph:
> [@](#):
>
> the past tense of _will_, if you think about it, is still _would_ rather than _willed_ in most forms
I was of the impression that _would_ was the subjunctive form of _will_, not the past tense. E.g., “I _would_ have won the Nobel Prize in Physics, if the oil company conspiracy hadn’t suppressed my water-powered perpetual-motion engine with its 2,000 mile-per-gallon carburetor.”
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“Love 'em, fear 'em, and leave 'em alone.” – Dr. Spockiavelli
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### Author:  [@metroshane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metroshane)
#### Post date: [December 1, 1999, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-is-subjunctive-isnt-it/1343/2 "1999-12-01T20:41:00Z")
I don’t think so b/c they are two independant clauses. a better example of subjunctive is…
" I think that I can answer this question."
" that " is a good indicator of the subjunctive form. “I think” is a noun +verb, but so is “I can”. I’m sure someone can explain it more eloquently.
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We live in an age that reads to much to be wise, and thinks too much to be beautiful–Oscar Wilde
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### Author:  [@dfahs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dfahs)
#### Post date: [December 2, 1999, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-is-subjunctive-isnt-it/1343/3 "1999-12-02T00:43:00Z")
Depending on context, the “would” indicates either the subjunctive (“If possible, I would go to the deli every day”) or past tense (“When I lived downtown, I would go to the deli every day.”)
I’m sure there’s a fancier and more accurate term for the verb tense in which “would go” descibes a repeated event in the past.
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### Author:  [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)
#### Post date: [December 2, 1999, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-is-subjunctive-isnt-it/1343/4 "1999-12-02T01:21:00Z")
My dictionary “Random House Unabridged” defines “would” as the past tense and past participle of “will.”
Definition 4 says it is used to describe repeated actions that happened in the past. I’m sure there is a fancy linguistic term for that, but it’s not important because there is no other way to express repeated past actions without using the word “would.”
At least I can’t think of one.
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### Author:  [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)
#### Post date: [December 2, 1999, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-is-subjunctive-isnt-it/1343/5 "1999-12-02T02:07:00Z")
I’m not an expert in english grammar, but here’s what I remember.
will is called a “modal auxiliary verb.”
will + infinitive = future
e.g. I will finish my homework after Batman is over.
would + infinitive = present conditional
e.g. If Batman weren’t on TV, I would finish my homework.
would + have + past participle = past conditional
e.g. If Batman had not been on TV, I would have finished my homework.
A verb is in the subjunctive mood when it expresses a condition which is not factual. It is often in a sentence starting with if, or following a verb such as “wish”.
e.g.
If Batman were not on TV, I would do my homework.
“If Batman were”: the verb “were” is in the subjunective mood.
I wish that Batman were on television.
again, “were” is in the subjunctive mood.
The subjunctive form is the same as the indicative form except for the verb “to be”, and the third person singular present tense.
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La franchise ne consiste pas à dire tout ce que l’on pense, mais à penser tout ce que l’on dit.
H. de Livry
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### Author:  [@TheIncredibleHolg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheIncredibleHolg)
#### Post date: [December 2, 1999, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-is-subjunctive-isnt-it/1343/6 "1999-12-02T08:46:00Z")
Heck, I’m not even a native speaker, but it’s not hard for me to see how ‘would’ can be the past tense of ‘will’. Example:
Present: He has made up his mind and he will leave.
Past: He had made up his mind and he would leave.
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### Author:  [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)
#### Post date: [December 6, 1999, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-is-subjunctive-isnt-it/1343/7 "1999-12-06T07:11:00Z")
Latin to the rescue!
Latin has a clearly expressed imperfect and perfect past tenses. ‘Perfect’ used in the sense of a completed action.
So, the perfect tense would be our simple past tense. _Spot ran._
The imperfect tense indicates a past action that was repeated. _Spot was running. Spot kept running. Spot used to run._
Future indicative: I will splunge!
Future perfect indicative: I will have splunged!
Future subjunctive: If Ricky Martin were to kiss me, I would splunge!
Future perfect subjunctive: If Ricky Martin were to have kissed me, I would have splunged!
Perfect indicative: I splunged!
Imperfect indicative: I was splunging! (I used to splunge! I kept on splunging!)
Perfect subjunctive: When Ricky Martin kissed me, I would be splunged!
Imperfect subjunctive: If Ricky Martin were kissing me, I would be splunging! (…I would keep splunging.
Peace.