The past subjunctive

[Matthew Wai]

1. If you listened carefully, you would be intrigued.
2. If you had listened carefully, you would have been intrigued.

In 1, "listened" is the past subjunctive which refers to the present or the future.
In 2, "had listened" refers to the past.

Correct?

 

[Raymott]

Yes, that's right. It can be confusing, but it's called the past subjunctive [mood] because it's expressed in the past tense, not because it's related to the past.

 

[Matthew Wai]

1. I hope Peter were here.
2. I hope Peter came here.

In 1, "were" is the past subjunctive.
In 2. is "came" the past subjunctive or simple past?

 

[Raymott]

1. Can you hope Peter were here? What does it mean? You can wish Peter were here. You can hope Peter is here (now) or was here (sometime in the past). Hoping isn't counterfactual like wishing is.
2. We don't use the subjunctive with 'hope'. It has to be the simple past here.

 

[Matthew Wai]

"I wish Peter came here."
Is "came" the past subjunctive?

 

[Raymott]

Yes it is. It means "I wish Peter usually/habitually came here."
For the past, the past perfect would be more appropriate for 'wish': "I wish Peter had come here yesterday."

 

[Matthew Wai]

Is it correct to say "I wish Peter came here tomorrow"?

 

[Raymott]

Is it correct to say "I wish Peter came here tomorrow"?

That would be wrong in my dialect. We'd say, "I wish Peter was coming here tomorrow".
"I wish Peter came" is not a natural sentence.