[Grammar] Suppose I ...

[Kotfor]

1) Suppose I had been a taxi-driver and you had been a passenger...
2) Suppose I were a taxi-driver and you were a passenger...
3) Suppose I am a taxi-driver and you are a passenger...
4) Suppose I be a taxi-driver and you be a passenger...

I wonder whether sentence 4 is completely wrong and never used?

 

[Rover_KE]

It's not wrong and could be said.

 

[Kotfor]

What difference in meaning do you see then between 3 and 4?

 

[Matthew Wai]

Is 'be' in 4. the present subjunctive?

 

[Raymott]

It could be used as a suggestion in a child's game:
"Suppose I be a taxi-driver and you be a passenger." = "Why don't I be a taxi-driver and you be a passenger."
I'm not sure whether it's subjunctive. I don't think so. It means "Suppose that I play the role of a taxi-driver ..."
2. is past subjunctive.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I would say that #4 is the present subjunctive. It is marked by use of the verb "be".

 

[Tdol]

I would never use #4.

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

Neither would I, except if I were doing a poor impersonation of someone from the West Country or perhaps Jamaica.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Do you mean that the present subjunctive does not apply to 'suppose'?

 

[Rover_KE]

Neither would I, except if I were doing a poor impersonation of someone from the West Country or perhaps Jamaica.

Neither would I, and Raymott nailed this in post #5. It's something children might say in pretend games.

 

[Tdol]

Many BrE speakers do not use the present subjunctive much/at all. Suppose I be doesn't work for me.

 

[MikeNewYork]

In AmE, the use of the present subjunctive is relatively common in certain constructions. I would not use it in the construction being considered here, however.

 

[Barb_D]

I demand he be...
I require he be...
I suggest he be...

But not "I suppose he be..." or "Suppose he be..."

 

[Raymott]

But not "I suppose he be..." or "Suppose he be..."

The phrase in question in "Suppose I/you be ...", not 'he'. I wouldn't say "Suppose he be" either.
This is a reason why I believe this is not the present subjunctive - unless the present subjunctive can only be used with 'be' in the 1st and 2nd person. But we know that's not right.
It's analogous to "Suppose I wash the dishes, and you dry, and he watches". 'He' takes the 3rd person 's', which the subjunctive doesn't. 'Be' is used indicatively, as in "You be the doctor, and I'll be the nurse." The first clause is imperative; the second uses 'be' as an infinitive. I suppose, "Suppose you be the doctor..." is also imperative.

 

[Barb_D]

I"m totally on board with the version you proposed, Ray.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I don't see it as imperative. It is a hypothetical.