As a part of speech, the verb performs an important function of denoting 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, denoting different time periods, activity or passivity, the subject and some other features. There are many such variants in Russian, although Europeans, as a rule, do not lag behind, but their grammatical constructions are built somewhat more logically. In addition, modality or linking verbs play a much smaller role for us, their use is not always clear and regulated.
Shapes
Conjugation, that is, change in persons and numbers, as well as an indication of the period of time when an action is performed, is what most think about when it comes to metamorphoses of verbs. But these are not the only options. In addition, there are still active and passive voices, as well as infinitives, participles and participles, the latter two being sometimes separated into separate parts of speech, but more often 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. Thus, they divide the entire set of verbs into three large groups and have serious differences between themselves. They will be discussed further.
About moods
One of the most important grammatical categories or classifications of verb forms has its special property as a criterion. It's just about inclination. The subjunctive is when talking about events that may or could happen. 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 describe what is happening or what has been and will be, it is to it that most forms apply, including those obtained by conjugation. It is the most neutral. Finally, the imperative, or imperative, is used in imperative sentences, when giving orders, formulating requests, and for other similar purposes.
Thus, each of the moods has its own function and role, which are extremely difficult to transfer to other constructions, that is, to express the same thing, but in other ways. All of them have their own characteristic features, but the most interesting is the subjunctive. After all, it is with its help that unrealized events are expressed.
Signs of the subjunctive
First of all, this is the particle "would", which in this case is an integral part of the verb form. Sometimes it can be attached to 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 did not come true, that is, which are in the area of unrealizable. Thus, it is not difficult to highlight this form in the text.
Also, the subjunctive (or conditional), like the imperative, is an impersonal form of the verb. This means that it has only one form with minor changes in endings. What else is characteristic about it?
Features
The subjunctive is not a unique construction in the Russian language, but it has some interesting features and uses.
It seems rather strange that even if the subjunctive mood of the verb is used in relation to events in any tense, 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 abouta situation that did not take place in the past and, perhaps, will not take place either in the present or in the future, that is, it has not been realized. From this perspective, the subjunctive form of the verb in dependent sentences like "I want him to sing" also looks appropriate, since the action expressed with its help has not yet happened. All this should be remembered when compiling 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 might be:
Eh, I wish I had more money!
He should get married.
In the first example, there is not even a verb, although its residual presence is obvious. However, such a construction still belongs to the boundary and cannot be unambiguously determined. The second refers more explicitly to the 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.
Past tense
No matter what the events are, conditional sentences use the same form - the subjunctive mood. A table in this case would be inconvenient, so it's easier to explain with examples.
If it didn't rain yesterday,we would go to the movies.
He would call if he knew your phone number.
Here, as you can see, the situation can illustrate both a completely unrealizable event due to the fact that there were no suitable conditions in the past, and something that can still be realized, but this has not happened yet.
In the present
The subjunctive can also be used to express the current situation. The examples below have a slight shade of past tense, but this is more likely due to the fact that a different situation was once realized, which led to circumstances that were not expected in the present.
If I had a dog now, I would play with it.
If I had not been injured then, I would be a famous football player now.
Thus, the subjunctive mood can also serve to indicate the possible development of events if something had not happened, or vice versa - it happened in the past.
In the 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 attitude towards the future will be clear only from the context. In the usual case, instead, a simple conditional sentence is obtained, in which there are no difficulties or features:
If it's sunny tomorrow, we'll go to the beach.
If we go to London next year, you will have to learn English.
There is no question of the subjunctive mood here, although it is possible that the events in question will never be realized. This has the disadvantage of not being able to accurately express certainty or doubt about whether this or that will take place.
Analogues in other languages
There is no strict concept of inclination in English, but there are constructions expressing convention, 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.
"Zero" and first types, in fact, reflect the events that can be and probably will be implemented. Here they refer to the subjunctive mood, but they will be translated through ordinary conditional sentences.
The second type of conditional sentence 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 there is a degree of certainty whether an event will take place. We don't have. Both of these varieties are translated into Russian, and the subjunctive mood of the verb is used for this. In other European languages, similar constructions are also present and actively used in speech. Moreover, the variety of verb forms in them, as a rule, is higher than in Russian.
There are also adverbs, inof which there are no inclinations at all or there are more than a dozen of them. Russian cannot be called a rich language in this respect, but for the needs of a fairly accurate expression of one's thoughts, this set is still quite enough. In the future, there may be new forms for even more appropriate formulations, but for now, the subjunctive mood is a somewhat reduced form of what could be.
