Started work on the subjunctive mood in class yesterday. Same theme - we study the same subjects in every French class, but at each new level we go into greater depth. The prof gave a great lecture on the philosophy behind the subjunctive, how its used to talk about possibility and desire in the external world, but not about statements of fact or internal thoughts or sensations. The logic of this way of thinking, which seems very French to me, and which has always made good sense to me. (Which is not to say that its easy to do in practice, not at all.) This wasnt new to me. No light bulbs of sudden understanding went off. But I did learn one very interesting new thing. Consider the sentence: Je souhaite que tu viennes à ma fête = I wish that you will come to my party. This sentence uses the subjunctive que tu viennes, which makes perfect sense and is not new. I wish that something would happen in the real word outside myself, that you will come to my party. You may or may not actually come, so this is a statement about possibility, so the subjunctive is required. But now consider: Jespère que tu viendras à ma fête = I hope that you will come to my party. The meaning of this sentence is the same as in the first example above, but this sentence uses the indicative, not the subjunctive. This is also not new. You learn that the verb espérer, to hope, always takes the indicative in your first French class. The question is why? Youre told not to ask this question in French 101. Its only later that you learn that theres a reason. The reason is historical and religious. Theres something in Catholic theology called lespérance that involves the way we relate to God. God is real, not a possibility. One uses the indicative when one talks about God, not the subjunctive. This exception in modern French grammar and usage is actually theological. Interesting. (One also addresses God as tu, not vous, but thats another story.) About internal versus external wishes and desires. Consider: Je veux que tu viennes à ma fête = I want you to come to my party. The subjunctive is used here. No problems so far. Now consider: Je veux que je vienne à ta fête ≠ I want to come to your party. No, this is not French. Its not a valid use of the subjunctive because its an internal wish or desire. Its a wish about myself, not about something outside of myself. The proper way to say this is with the infinitive: Je veux venir à ta fête = I want to come to your party. These same principles are behind the use of the indicative with the verb penser, to think: Je pense quil est nul = I think hes an idiot. This is a statement about something inside myself, one of my thoughts. Its also a statement about the actual, not the possible. That hes an idiot may or may not be true in the real world, but its true that I think that he is. Im not saying that he MIGHT be an idiot, Im saying that he IS an idiot. So you use the indicative, not the subjunctive. Again, in French 101 youre just taught the rules, with long lists of verbs that take the subjunctive and long lists of verbs that dont, and its only later that you get to understand the logic behind them. Once you understand the logic, you really dont need the lists anymore. Thats pretty cool, IMHO.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 02:20:11 +0000
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