Verbs in Subordinate Clause within If Clause
(1) If he knew what he [was] doing, he would be doing it better.
(2) If he knew what Sue [is (or) was] doing, he would go to see her.
(3) If he bought the car he [has] long wanted to have, he would be so excited.
The verb in a subordinate clause within an if-clause with a subjunctive-past verb --- I’ve been thinking what causes it to be its past subjunctive.
I was told the sentences above are idiomatic English in terms of the usage of the bold lettered verbs. How come you use the past subjunctive [eg. 'was' in (1) and (2)] for some sentences whereas the indicative [eg. 'is' in (2) and 'has' in (3)] for the others when they all express the present tense? I was even told 'is' in (2) is Americanism. Is it something of American regional usage?
Thanks as always,
Hiro
Oooops! I was spacey! This forum doesn't show bold letters. By bold lettered verbs, I meant [was], [is (or) was], and [has] in the example sentences. Sorry, I must have confused you.
Oooops! I was spaced out! This forum doesn't show bold letters. By "bold lettered verbs," I meant [was], [is (or) was], and [has] in the example sentences. Sorry, I must have confused you.
And me and my dense head! I somehow signed 'Puzzled' and 'Hiro.' They are all me!
Yes, it is an 'americanism'.
From wikipedia:
In conditional sentences, US spoken usage often substitutes would and would have (usually shortened to [I]'d and [I]'d have) for the simple past and for the pluperfect (If you'd leave now, you'd be on time. / If I would have [I'd've] cooked the pie we could have [could've] had it for lunch). This tends to be avoided in writing because it is often still considered non-standard although such use of would is widespread in spoken US English in all sectors of society. Some reliable sources now label this usage as acceptable US English and no longer label it as colloquial.[23][24] (There are, of course, situations where would is used in British English too in seemingly counterfactual conditions, but these can usually be interpreted as a modal use of would: If you would listen to me once in a while, you might learn something.[25][26] In cases in which the action in the if clause takes place after that in the main clause, use of would in counterfactual conditions is however considered standard and correct usage in even formal UK and US usage: If it would make Bill happy, I'd [I would] give him the money.[25]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_differences#Verb_morphology
<Yes, it is an 'americanism'.
From wikipedia:
In conditional sentences, US spoken usage often substitutes would and would have...>
1) The "Americanism" in question was the use of "is", not the use of "would (have)" in the if-clause.
2) It is entirely wrong to suppose that the use of "would (have)" in the if-clause (e.g. "if he would have done this, etc.) is not a British habit too. On a UK phone-in, for example, you'll hear it all the time.
<How come you use the past subjunctive [eg. 'was' in (1) and (2)] for some sentences whereas the indicative [eg. 'is' in (2) and 'has' in (3)] for the others when they all express the present tense? >
The "was" in 1 is backshift in indirect speech, not a subjunctive. (The embedded indirect question is "What am I doing?".)
If you use "was" in 2, it's backshift again, except that the embedded question is "What is she doing?".
If you use "is" in 2, it's to avoid ambiguity and emphasise the current nature of the doing. (Some people prefer backshift, in these cases; some people prefer the present tense.)
The "has" in 3 is a different case. Here, the verb in the subordinate that-clause is indicative, because the clause represents a fact, not a supposition (i.e. he has indeed long wanted the car, but the buying and being excited are suppositional).
<I was even told 'is' in (2) is Americanism. >
This is incorrect. It happens everywhere.
As a native speaker of American (mid-Atlantic, east coast) English they all sound fine to me. The one thing is the "long" from #3 sounds so weird to me though, I cannot think of a single reason it shouldn't be there though.
Some things are like that though, If I walked up to someone around here and asked them "How do you do?" they would look at me like I was crazy, it is completely correct of course, but it just isn't how people talk where I live. They would almost without fail ask "How are you?" instead.