to be or not to be...

[Katie Alcock]

Dear Antonella
>
> I'm stuck on yet another grammatical question, but this time it involves
> sentence modality and its contents.
>
> If I were to say: "You eat cookies", the main verb in the present tense is
> "eat" and this is a declarative sentence. If I were to say: "Eat your
> cookies", the main verb is still "eat" and this sentence is in the
> imperative mode.  However, is "eat" in the present tense? Is the
> imperative, then, always in the present tense?  From my readings, the
> imperative is formed from the present and therefore, the answer to my
> question should be yes.  Any other opinions?
>
It is my understanding (and please someone who is more
knowledgeable correct me) that this does not have a tense, but
rather is infinitive.  If you were to say "you should eat your
cookies", that is a present subjunctive and hence has a tense.

> Now, here is part two.  If I were to say: "Be careful", we still have a
> sentence in the imperative mode, but this time with the main verb "be".
> However, what is "be" derived from?  It surely is not a "present form" as
> in the above example.  Help!
>
again it's an infinitive and has no tense, but again "you should be
careful" is a present subjunctive.

>
> P.S. Why do we say "thankS" (with an -S) and "thank you" ?
>

"thank" is both a noun "many thanks" and a verb "(I) thank you"

Katie Alcock


-----------
Katie Alcock
Lecturer
Department of Psychology
City University
Northampton Square
London
EC1V 0HB
Tel (+44) (0)20 7477 0167
Fax (+44) (0)20 7477 8581
www.staff.city.ac.uk/k.j.alcock