Of Imaginary Numbers and the Subjuctive

Written by Kyle about Costa Rica. Feelin' annoyed
Kyle_annoyed
This is for all of you language-lovers (or haters) out there...

Remember when in Algebra class you learned all about imaginary numbers?  No?  Ok, a refresher.  i = square root of -1 and it's imaginary because there is no square root of negative one.  So, if you express something like 2i, it means it is two times the square root as one, which means twice of something that doesn't exist.  And i squared?  That equals -1 which brings you back into "real" numbers again.  Sigh.
 
Anyway, when I learned the imaginary number concept, I kind of understood it, but only in the sense where I understood it enough to pass a test but not well enough to actually understand what it meant or why it even existed in the first place.

Why do I bring this up?  Because now I'm in the same frame of mind except that instead of being imaginary numbers, I'm learning about the subjunctive mood in Spanish (again).

So what is this subjuctive mood, then, you say?  Well, it's kind of like imaginary numbers.  You basically use it when you talk about things that don't exist, or might not happen.  Your textbook will tell you that the subjuntive is used to "express wishes, commands, emotion, possibility, judgment, necessity, or statements that are contrary to fact at present".  In short, you use it to express imaginary things, things that don't or might not ever exist; imaginary things.  Great, you say. I get it.  That doesn't seem too hard to do, right?

Wrong.

The problem is that we don't use the subjuctive that much in English and when we do, we have no idea that we are using it.  Take an easy example:

I wish it were summer.

I know what that means, you know what it means.  It means that right now I am wishing for it to be summer.  But how would I express that it is summer right now?  Easy:

Right now, it is summer.

But, wait a minute.  In the first example, I was talking about right now, the present tense, but I said "were summer".  Why don't I say: "I wish it is summer"?  That would make sense because I am talking in the present tense, right.  Right?  Welcome to the subjective mood, my friend.  That one little change in one word makes all the difference.

So all I have to do is think about when I would use subjunctive in English, and use it in Spanish, right?

Wrong again, my friend.

First, I still don't know when I use subjunctive in English because it comes so naturally to me when I say it in English.  Hell, I had to look up the preceding example online because I couldn't think of one single example in English.  Second, the subjunctive in Spanish is used way more often than in English.  Take this example:

When he arrives at the house, he is going to eat dinner.

Easy enough.  No subjective, a completely "regular" sentence.  However, in Spanish this requires the subjunctive.  So, it would end up sounding like this:

When he arrive at the house, he is going to eat dinner.

Sidebar: I'm not sure why subjuctive is used here.  Maybe because he might not arrive at the house, therefore making it a hypothesis instead of something concrete?  Maybe a bear will eat him on the walk home?   I don't know.

Great.  Wonderful.  Now not only is it hard enough for me to think about when we use subjunctive in English, I have to now think about when people would use it in Spanish.  And don't think about asking anyone else but your Spanish teacher about subjuctive.  If you ask your new Costa Rican friend about the subjuctive, he'll look at you as if you are talking about an alien landing you saw yesterday.

So, that's where I am right now, trying to figure out this magical, enchanted wonderland of stuff that doesn't exist.  Just like the imaginary numbers I learned years ago, maybe it's good enough to know enough to fool someone for now; maybe someday, the lightbulb will go on and I will be enlightened.  Untill then, I'll cross over into the imaginary world with intrepedation and fear, hoping that one day I can understand all things that aren't real.

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