natural+subjunctive mood

Status
Not open for further replies.

ostap77

Key Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Ukrainian
Home Country
Ukraine
Current Location
Ukraine
"It was natural that they.......us of the decision."
A.inform
B.had informed
C.informed
D.will inform

I would put a check mark for A as the correct answer. I'm wondering if it's possible to have the subjunctive mood with "It was natural..."? Would A. also be correct?
 

luschen

Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2011
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
I would say that C is a better answer. It sounds like all the action happened in the past, but without more context I think it might be impossible to tell for sure.


*** Not a teacher ***
 

konungursvia

VIP Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2009
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
English
Home Country
Canada
Current Location
Canada
"It was natural that they.......us of the decision."
A.inform
B.had informed
C.informed
D.will inform

I would put a check mark for A as the correct answer. I'm wondering if it's possible to have the subjunctive mood with "It was natural..."? Would A. also be correct?

I agree with you it is possible, but as a "past subjunctive" from an imperfect premise "It was natural" I would use "that they should inform us..." if you really prefer the subjunctive mood here. However, it's strictly optional in English in most situations now.
 

ostap77

Key Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Ukrainian
Home Country
Ukraine
Current Location
Ukraine
I agree with you it is possible, but as a "past subjunctive" from an imperfect premise "It was natural" I would use "that they should inform us..." if you really prefer the subjunctive mood here. However, it's strictly optional in English in most situations now.

It's a question from the test. So I was wondering which would be the correct answer?
 

Raymott

VIP Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2008
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
English
Home Country
Australia
Current Location
Australia
I would put C.
But I'm not sure that A is wrong.
There are degrees of convincingness.

From the below, I'd choose 1. over 2. And I'd certainly choose 3. over 4.
1. It was imperative that they keep us informed.
2. It was imperative that they kept us informed.

3. It was ordered that they keep us informed.
4. It was ordered that they kept us informed.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top