“If there were a Form 3, you would have already filled it out.” Reader Jessica had a question about a sentence like this. The speaker already knew about a Form 1 and a Form 2. The existence of Form 3, ...

In my column last week, in reply to a question posed in Jose Carillo’s English Forum, I explained the tough and tricky difference between a subjunctive sentence and a second conditional or unreal ...

READING a story on the fate of European newspapers, your columnist was drowning in bad news—newsrooms decimated, advertisers fleeing—but then a strange sentence appeared: Even Rupert Murdoch, who ...

In my preceding two columns, I explained the difference between a second conditional sentence and a subjunctive sentence, then discussed the maverick behavior of verbs in subjunctive sentences. I ...

Sometimes you might write about things that aren’t certain, or that you imagine might happen. This is called the subjunctive or the subjunctive mood. If I were in charge, I’d make bedtime later. It's ...

One of the most fascinating things about language is that we can use it so well, so expertly, without understanding how we do it. The following two sentences are perfect examples. If the burglar was ...

As an essential element of College Writing and other forms of literary activities, the SENTENCE continues to dominate our discussion. Yes, we need to look at SENTENCE once again in another form: ...