[riverkid]

Originally Posted by Casiopea

That would be the indicative. Like this, right? Would you mind if she plays with his toys? Tense switching, from 'played', a remnant of the present subjunctive, to 'plays', the present indicative, is quite common among some speakers today. Is it prescribed? Uhm, well, no. At least not yet. But that change is notable,
EX: If I were Bill, I would ... ." <subjunctive>
EX: If I was Bill, I would ... . " <indicative>

Originally Posted by Casiopea

Well, if it's a 'regular past tense verb' then it couldn't be a remnant of the subjunctive mood.

I'm still confused, Casiopea. What you've stated above doesn't seem to square with what you stated in your posting previous to this one; I've underlined it and put it in red.

Note that, the phrase Would you mind doesn't refer to the past.

You're absolutely right. Would you mind has nothing to do with past tense or time so using a present tense FORM verb has nothing to do with tense or time. There are pragmatic considerations involved.

prescribe, vb. recommend.

That sounds like a sneaky way of saying 'prescription', Casiopea. And as we all know, prescriptions are poor poor ways of describing how language works.

There's no reason to give inaccurate descriptions when it's so easy to give accurate ones. What we may or may not use in a more formal [often writing] situation is not dependent upon prescriptivists' opinions.

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