关于“虚拟语气”的传说

大家学习虚拟语气的时候一定都遇到这样或那样的问题，但你一定想不到外国人也会为这件事“苦恼”吧......那么母语为英语的人到底如何看待虚拟语气呢？他们是不是也遵循了语法书的条条章章呢？现在一睹为快吧！

Print edition | Books and arts| Aug 13th 2016

Translated by Y. L

Proofread by  Lacy，Bridget

Reviewed by  Ennis，W

Edited by W

IN A recent supplement to The Economist , called “ The World If ”, we considered several hypothetical futures under such headlines as: “If Donald Trump was president” or “If the ocean was transparent”. Several readers wrote in dismay: surely we meant: “If Donald Trump were president” and “If the ocean were transparent”. Does no one know the English subjunctive anymore?

在最新一期《经济学人》（ The Economist ）的增刊 The World If 中，我们借助标题对未来做出了几种假设：“If Donald Trump was president” 或者“If the ocean was transparent”  。对此，一些读者十分郁闷地写道：我们确信这两句话应表达为：“If Donald Trump were president”以及“If the ocean were transparent”。难道不再有人记得英语虚拟语气了吗？

In fact, the decision to use “If the ocean was…” was made consciously, after some debate. It looks less stilted in a headline. It feels a bit less distant from reality. And because of the design of the pages, the words “…the ocean was transparent” stood alone. They would have looked bizarre as “...the ocean were transparent”.

实际上，为了让标题看起来不那么生硬，更接近现实，本报经过一番讨论，特决定使用“ If the ocean was…”。加之页面设计的缘故，标题文字 “……the ocean was transparent ”这部分单列一行。如果写成 “...the ocean were transparent ”，会让句子看起来十分奇怪。

Normally we would not let design considerations govern grammatical ones. But is there a case to be made for “if he was...”? Yes. There is a reason grammar books must hound people to use “if he were…” Most English-speakers use “if he was” at least some of the time in sentences that call for the subjunctive, and some of them use it exclusively.

通常情况下，我们不会让页面设计凌驾于文本语法之上。但会不会在某些情况下使用“ if he was… ”的句式呢？答案是肯定的。尽管语法书有理由一再要求人们必须使用“ if he were...”。但大多数母语为英语的人会在一些场合使用“ if he was”，有时还是会在需要使用虚拟语气的句子中使用“ if he was”的句式，一些人甚至只用这种句式。

How could this arise? Subjunctive “were” is an odd bird. Since Joseph Priestley in 1761, grammarians have fretted that it was on its way to disappearing from English. There are 37,704 verbs in the Oxford English Dictionary; only one has a special subjunctive form—“to be”. Even then, “to be” has a special subjunctive for only two of the six grammatical persons: first-person singular and third-person singular. In the other 37,703 verbs the subjunctive (“if we had”) looks just like the ordinary indicative (“we had”).

为什么会出现这种情况呢？虚拟语气词“ were”十分古怪。自1761年，约瑟夫·普里斯特利之后，文法学者就开始担忧“ were”正从英语中逐渐消失 。牛津英文字典中收录了37,704个动词，只有一个有虚拟语气的形态，那就是“ to be”。即使在当时，“ to be” 所代表的虚拟语气只适用于6个人称代词中的2个，即第一人称单数和第三人称单数。在其他37,703个动词中，虚拟语气，例如“ if we had”看起来和普通的陈述语气“ we had”没有差别。

As it always does, incidentally, for all those other verbs. “If you ate that, you’d get sick” is the subjunctive; the “if” clause is about an unreal, hypothetical situation. But “if you ate that, I’m mightily impressed” is indicative (the “if” clause indicates something that is quite possibly true). Both forms of “ate” look like the plain past tense, though. It’s an odd theory of grammar to say that English has a full, robust and mandatory subjunctive, and yet that in almost every instance, it looks just like the plain past tense.

顺便说一下，其他动词也是一样的。 “ If you ate that,  you’d get sick”是虚拟的；因为“ if ”从句是一种假设的情形。但是，“ if you ate that, I’m mightily impressed”则是一个陈述句（“ if ”从句所表示的情况有可能是真的）。虽然两句中的“ ate ”看起来都是一般过去时态，但第一句是虚拟语气，第二句是陈述句。这个理论十分奇怪，它认为英语虚拟语气应当语句完整，语气强烈，并拥有暗示意味，但几乎在每一个例子里，都是用的一般过去式的这种表达。

Major bits of grammar—like the existence of a subjunctive—are usually a lot more visible than this. The subjunctive has a distinct form for all verbs in many languages. In Spanish, for example, sabe (he knows) becomes sepa. It’s required to describe doubts, as in “I don’t think he knows…” Portuguese even has a future subjunctive (for “when he comes tomorrow…”), and German has one for reported speech (“She said that she is…”)

语法的小要点—— 比如虚拟语气——在实际应用中通常比以上论述更明显。在许多语言中，动词的虚拟语气形式要（比英语）更为明显。比如，在西语中，sabe(相当于英文中的he knows）的虚拟语气就变成了sepa。Sepa就是被用来描述疑问的表达，就像英文中的“ I don’t think he knows…” ；葡萄牙语甚至还有虚拟式将来时（future subjunctive），例如“当他明天来到……”（ when he comes tomorrow…）；而德语中有一种虚拟语气用于间接引语，例如，“她说她是……” （She said that she is…）。

The English “were” is the runt of the subjunctive litter, used on just one verb, just some of the time, and not by everyone. And some experts reckon this is not a subjunctive at all. “The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language”, by Geoffrey Pullum and Rodney Huddleston, calls counterfactual “were” the “irrealis”, rather than the subjunctive, and says that it is an unstable remnant of an earlier system.

英语中的“ were”只是虚拟语气中的一小部分，只是一个动词在某一时刻的虚拟语气表达方式，并不能用于所有人称。但有些专家认为这根本不是所谓的虚拟语气。 “英国剑桥英语语法” 作者：作者杰弗里·普勒姆（Geoffrey Pullum）和罗德尼·胡德尔斯顿（Rodney  Huddleston）称虚拟语气标志词“ were” 表示非现实，而不是虚拟，并且强调这是早期语言系统形成时，遗留的一个问题。

They reserve “subjunctive” to describe a fuller and healthier bit of English: things like “so be it”, “come what may”, and “he insists that students be punctual”. Other grammarians call this the English present subjunctive, and say that “if he were” is the past subjunctive. Messrs Pullum and Huddleston reply that the present subjunctive is so different from the “if he were” cases that the term “subjunctive” makes little sense covering both—hence their proposal of irrealis for the “if he were” cases. Outsiders to academic linguistics are often shocked that there is debate on basic facts like what the subjunctive is. But language is much more complex than short-and-sharp grammars portray. (The “Cambridge Grammar” is not one of those, at 1,842 pages.)

他们保留“虚拟语气”（subjunctive）以保证英语语言系统的完整和健全：像“so be it”，“come what may”  以及“he insists that students be punctual”等这样的用词。其他语法学家把这样的用词称为英语中表示现在时的虚拟语气，并认为“ if he were ”是表示过去时的虚拟语气。布朗和哈德尔斯顿两位先生反驳道：现在时的虚拟语气与“ if they were ”的表达方式截然不同，以至于虚拟语气在两种表达方式中几乎不起什么作用。非语言学家经常会震惊于在什么是虚拟语气这样的基本问题上竟然还存在争论，但语言本身比简洁有力的语法形式复杂得多。 （Cambridge Grammar不是其中之一，记述在1,842页）。

The fact is that “if he were” is still in good health in edited English: it is not archaic like the King James Bible ’s “If he be poor” (yet another subjunctive). But “if he were” is slightly formal, a bit tricky and not universally observed. Our choice of “If Donald Trump was…” comports with the many grammar books that consider “if he was” simply less formal. Defoe, Swift and Addison were using “was” in such sentences three centuries ago.

事实是，“ if he were”仍然广泛应用于书面英语中：它不像英皇钦定本圣经中的“ If he be poor”（另一种虚拟语气）那样古旧。但是，“ if he were” 仍然稍显正式，复杂，且应用并不广泛。我们选择“ If Donald Trump was…”这种用法，与许多语法书中所述一样，认为如果“ if he was”不够正式。300年之前，迪福（Defoe）、斯威夫特（Swift）和艾迪生（Addison）在这类句子中用的就是“was”。

Many people think that grammar always gives a single answer to any question. But it doesn’t. In the recent Coen brothers film “Hail, Caesar!” , a stuffy older English film director struggles endlessly to get a backwoods-bred young American actor to master a single line, which both includes and sums up the subjunctive: “Would that it were so simple…”

许多人认为语法是衡量任何语句问题的唯一标准，但其实并不是。在最近科恩兄弟的电影《凯撒万岁》中，上了年纪的保守导演花费了巨大精力，教一位生长在偏远地区的年轻演员掌握一句台词：“Would that it were so simple…”。这句台词既涉及虚拟语气，也是虚拟语气的一个总结。

subjunctive（虚拟语气）

1

What is the subjunctive?

Some languages have special verb forms called ‘subjunctive’, which are used especially to talk about ‘unreal’ situations: things which are possible, desirable or imaginary. Older English had subjunctives, but in modern English they have mostly been replaced by uses of should, would and other modal verbs, by special uses of past tenses, and by ordinary verb forms. English only has a few subjunctive forms left: third-person singular present verbs without ‑(e)s, (e.g. she see, he have) and special forms of be (e.g. I be, he were). Except for I/he/she/it were after if, they are not very common.

2

that she see

Ordinary verbs only have one subjunctive form: a third person singular present with no ‑(e)s (e.g. she see). It is sometimes used in that‑clauses in a formal style, especially in American English, after words which express the idea that something is important or desirable (e.g. suggest, recommend, ask, insist, vital, essential, important, advice). The same forms are used in both present and past sentences.

It is essential that every child have the same educational opportunities.

It was important that James contact Arthur as soon as possible.

Our advice is that the company invest in new equipment.

The judge recommended that Simmons remain in prison for life.

Do is not used in negative subjunctives. Note the word order.

We felt it desirable that he not leave school before eighteen.

With verbs that are not third-person singular, the forms are the same as ordinary present-tense verbs (but they may refer to the past).

I recommended that you move to another office.

3

be

Be has special subjunctive forms: I be, you be etc.

It is important that Helen be present when we sign the papers.

The Director asked that he be allowed to advertise for more staff.

I were and he/she/it were, used for example after if  and wish  in a formal style, are also subjunctives.

If I were you I should stop smoking.

I wish it were Saturday.

4

fixed phrases

Subjunctives are also used in certain fixed phrases. Examples:

God save the Queen!

Long live the King!

God bless you.

Heaven forbid.

He’s a sort of adopted uncle, as it were. (= … in a way.)

Be that as it may … (= Whether that is true or not …)

If we have to pay £2,000, then so be it. (= We can’t do anything to change it.)

5

other structures

Most subjunctive structures are formal and unusual in British English. In that‑clauses, British people usually prefer should + infinitive, or ordinary present and past tenses.

It is essential that every child should have the same educational opportunities. (OR … that every child has …)

It was important that James should contact Arthur as soon as possible. (OR … that James contacted …)

以上内容摘自《英语用法指南》

译者后记：

很多小伙伴在学习虚拟语气的时候都会碰到“过去时”和“虚拟语气”傻傻分不清楚的情况，现在这种“你不是一个人的感觉”是不是很爽呢？虽然很爽，但语法还在那里，不离不弃。译者认为，英语中判断虚拟语气不仅依赖于有章可循的语法，还应当根据语言环境进行判断，语言发生的情景，或者说事情发生的背景条件很大程度上决定了语意；如此双管齐下，一定能助你变成火眼金睛。

The new Coen Brother’s film Hail, Caesar! was recently advertised with a trailer focused on the strange English expression “Would that it were so simple.”.This is an interesting construction, generally seen as would that + past tense, which you might otherwise see as “Would that I knew”, “Would that there was another way” or many other possibilities. It is also not always joined with that, for example would he knew the answer, though this is far less common. It is not a strange tense, though, merely an idiomatic use of more archaic language.

Why we can say “would that it were”

Would in this construction is not a past tense form of will – it is an old-fashioned, different meaning of would, to mean wish. The form would that is effectively the same as wish that or would rather that. These two sentences effectively have the same meaning:

I wish that I knew the answer.

Would that I knew the answer.

Notice that this use of would has an idiomatic use, however, and is mostly used without a subject. Without a subject, this idiomatic expression can carry a slightly different emphasis, making the expression more passive or general than the simple I wish that. While it might therefore translate to I wish that in the archaic (old) use of the word, it is more accurate to translate it to If only… in idiomatic use. It is not necessarily connected to a subject’s wish, therefore, more a general sense of longing (though of course in context it will be clear who is expressing that longing!).

Hence, would that it were so simple is an archaic, idiomatic way of saying if only it were so simple. And considering it might confuse a lot of people, the expression is fairly apt!