asked a policeman.
=Exercise 122--Mode=
Mode is the form of the verb that indicates the manner of expressing the
thought. The _modes_, or _moods_, that every one should be able to
distinguish are the _indicative_ and the _subjunctive_. If the verb
indicates a fact, we say it is in the indicative mode; if it expresses a
supposition, a doubt, a statement contrary to fact, or a wish, we say it
is in the subjunctive mode.
You _are_ good. (A fact--indicative.)
I wish I _were_ good. (Contrary to fact, a wish--subjunctive.)
In form the indicative and the subjunctive differ in the present and the
past tenses of the verb _to be_, as follows:
=Indicative of _be_=
_Present_ _Past_
I am We are I was We were
You are You are You were You were
He is They are He was They were
=Subjunctive of _be_=
_Present_ _Past_
If I be If we be If I were If we were
If you be If you be If you were If you were
If he be If they be If he were If they were
Other verbs in the subjunctive mode do not end in _s_ in the third
person singular number, but use the same form as the other persons in
the singular number; as, _if he go_, _if she walk_.
_If_, _though_, _although_, or _lest_ usually introduce the subjunctive
form.
In modern English, the use of the subjunctive is becoming rare except in
the past and past perfect tenses in statements contrary to fact, and in
wishes, which are really statements contrary to fact; as,