Dear teachers,
Please read the following multiple choice sentence:
______ enter university one day, I would work very hard.
a. would b. should
'b' is certainly correct. This is subjunctive mood. I could also write it this way: If I should enter......
According my grammar book would and could can also be used this way.
That means 'a' is also correct. I think the reason that would can't be used here is that there is another would in the subjective clause. Am I right?
I am looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.
Have a nice weekend.
Jiang
It must be "Should I enter the university one day...." It doesn't work as "Should enter...." Even with I, "would" and "could" wouldn't work. :wink:Originally Posted by jiang
Originally Posted by MikeNewYork
You're welcome. :wink:Originally Posted by jiang
Here's another example of "should".
Should anyone call (= if anyone calls), please tell them I’m busy.
Should anyone call (me), please tell them I’m busy.
should + subject + verb + (object)
Should enter university one day, I would work very hard.
should + verb + object: where's the subject of the clause?
compare:
Should I enter university one day, I would work very hard.
should + subject + verb + object
Last edited by David L.; 09-May-2009 at 08:23.
isn't okay, is it?
No, it isn't.
I was pointing out that in your sentence, "Should anyone call,...", the clause correctly had a subject, 'anyone', and the subject of the clause was what was missing in, "Should enter university, I..." That was what MikeNewYork was referring to: a subject of the clause.