As part of speech, a verb has an important function of designating various actions. In Russian, as in any other language, it is extremely difficult to do without it. What are its main forms, how are they formed and what are they used for?
About the verb
They can be static or dynamic, but they all express some kind of action. Of course, we are talking about verbs, which are an important part of the language. As a rule, they have a huge number of different forms, indicating different time periods, activity or passivity, subject and some other features. In the Russian language there are many such options, although Europeans, as a rule, are not far behind, but their grammatical constructions are built somewhat more logically. In addition, modality or conjugation verbs play a much smaller role in us, their use is not always clear and regulated.
Forms
Conjugation, that is, a change in persons and numbers, as well as an indication of the period of time when the action is performed, is what most people think about when it comes to metamorphoses of verbs. But these are not the only options. In addition to this, there is still an active and passive voice, as well as an infinitive, participle, and participle, the latter two being sometimes singled out in separate parts of speech, but more often they are considered special forms of the verb expressing side effects.
And, of course, do not forget that there is such a category as indicative, imperative, subjunctive mood. Thus, they divide the entire set of verbs into three large groups and have serious differences among themselves. We will discuss them further.
About moods
One of the most important grammatical categories or classifications of verb forms has a criterion for its special property. It's just about the mood. The subjunctive is when it refers to events that may or could have occurred. It is this form that is used, as it is, for example, about dreams. In another way it is called conditional. The indicative, or indicative, is used simply to state what is happening or what was and will be; it is to him that most of all forms belong, including those obtained by conjugation. It is the most neutral. Finally, the imperative, or imperative, is used in incentive sentences, when giving orders, formulating requests and for other similar purposes.
Thus, each of the inclinations has its own function and role, which is extremely difficult to transfer to other structures, that is, to express the same, but in other ways. All of them have their own characteristic features, but the subjunctive is most interesting. After all, it is with its help that unrealized events are expressed.
Signs of the subjunctive
First of all, it is a “would” particle, which in this case is an integral part of the verb form. Sometimes she can join other words, forming a slightly different construction, for example, “to sing,” “to be,” etc. Both of these forms are complex compared to the others, which consist of only one grammatical unit.
In addition, the subjunctive mood is a construction that is easy to determine by meaning, because it denotes events that have not come true, that is, which are in the field of unrealizable. Thus, highlighting this form in the text does not present any difficulties.
Also, the subjunctive (or conditional), as well as the imperative, is an impersonal form of the verb. This means that it has only one form with minor changes to the endings. What else is characteristic in it?
Features
The subjunctive mood is not a unique construction for the Russian language, but it has some interesting features and ways of use.
It seems rather strange that even if the subjunctive verb is used in relation to events at any time, the form still expresses the past, although historically it had a slightly different meaning. On the other hand, this is quite logical, because we are talking about a situation that did not take place in the past and, possibly, will not take place either in the present or in the future, that is, it has not been implemented. From this perspective, the form of the subjunctive verb in dependent sentences of the type “I want him to sing” also seems appropriate, since the action expressed with its help has not yet occurred. All this should be remembered when drawing up sentences, as well as when translating conditional constructions from foreign languages into Russian.
Unlike other languages, it is this verb form that is used in both parts of a complex conditional sentence - both in the main and in the dependent.
There are other interesting constructions, and philologists argue about whether they can be attributed to the subjunctive mood. An example could be this:
Oh, I would have more money!
He would marry.
In the first example, there is not even a verb, although its residual presence is obvious. Nevertheless, such a construction is still related to the boundary ones and cannot be unambiguously defined. The second is more explicitly related to conditional mood, although the infinitive is used instead of the past tense. There are many such constructions, and this only confirms the richness and variety of techniques in the Russian language.
In the past time
Whatever events are discussed, conditional sentences use the same form - the subjunctive mood. The table in this case would be inconvenient, so it’s easier to explain this with examples.
If it had not rained yesterday, we would have gone to the cinema.
He would call if he knew your phone number.
Here, as you can see, the situation can illustrate how a completely unrealizable event due to the fact that there were no suitable conditions in the past, and what else can be realized, but this has not happened yet.
Present
The subjunctive mood can also be used to express the current situation. The examples below have a slight connotation of the past tense, but this is more likely due to the fact that once a different situation was realized that did not lead to the circumstances that were assumed in the present.
If I had a dog now, I would play with her.
If I didn’t get injured then I would be a famous footballer now.
Thus, the subjunctive mood can also serve to indicate the possible development of events in the event that something did not happen, or vice versa - happened in the past.
In future
In relation to events that have yet to be realized, but it is not known whether this will happen, the subjunctive mood is not directly used. It may be present, but then the relation to the future will be clear only from the context. In the usual case, instead of this, we get just a conditional sentence in which there are no difficulties or features:
If it is sunny tomorrow, we will go to the beach.
If we go to London next year, you will have to learn English.
There is no talk of the subjunctive mood, although perhaps the events in question will not be realized. This is a drawback - the inability to accurately express confidence or doubts about whether this or that will take place.
Analogs in other languages
In English, there is no strict concept of inclination, but there are constructions expressing conditionality, that is, having the same function. They are called conditional or if clauses and are divided into several types. The first two varieties do not carry the same meaning as the subjunctive mood in Russian, but the rest are a complete analogue. In this sense, English is somewhat richer.
The “zero” and the first types, in fact, reflect events that can be and possibly will be realized. Here they refer to the subjunctive mood, but will be translated through ordinary conditional sentences.
The second type of conditional sentences expresses an action that seems unlikely, but still real. But the third - no, because it falls on the past. This is also the difference from the Russian language, because in English a degree of confidence in whether an event will take place is present. But with us, no. Both of these varieties are translated into Russian, and the subjunctive verb is used for this. In other European languages, similar constructions are also present and are actively used in speech. Moreover, the variety of verb forms in them is usually higher than in Russian.
There are adverbs in which there are no moods at all, or there are more than a dozen. Russian can not be called a rich language in this regard, but for the needs of a sufficiently accurate expression of their thoughts, this set is still quite enough. In the future, new forms may arise for even more suitable formulations, but so far the subjunctive mood is a somewhat reduced form of what may be.