Past Subjunctive

[Jonathan Lighter]

"What if the Buddha had dated?"

"Things I wish I'd [i.e., "had"] been told."

No other constructions possible for me.

JL

On Mon, Jul 2, 2012 at 8:53 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Past Subjunctive
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Mon, Jul 2, 2012 at 7:41 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
> > What does one say about "what if the Buddha would have dated", or
> > "things I wish I would have been told"?
>
> FWIW:
>
> "What if the Buddha had dated?"
>
> "Things I wish I would have been told"
> is fine for me as it stands.
>
> --
> -Wilson
> -----
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
> to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -Mark Twain
>
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