“hypothetical subjunctive”

I'm on the mailing list for the American Dialect Society and one guy mentioned the “hypothetical subjunctive” tense. Yoiks, I don’t even know what that means, but I like the sound of it ;).

This seems to be a phenomenon that surpasses language boundaries: I have often wondered why german sportscasters shun the hypothetical subjunctive (Konjunktiv in German) of the “missed chance” type. They invariably say “Die Mannschaft musste noch ein Tor schiessen, statt nur das Resultat zu sichern" instead of “haette noch ein Tor schiessen muessen”. I have come to accept it as a marker of a specific functional style, particularly now that I learn it is the same in English.

Prof. Dr. Peter Lucko
Humboldt-Universit�t zu Berlin
Institut f�r Anglistik und Amerikanistik