Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Junkomama]

Suppose the following sentences are subjunctive ones, is the first sentence correct?
And which in the parenthesis of the second sntence is correct?

1.Those who were going to attend the party would bring some food.
2.After we (ate/have eaten) a lunch, we would go shopping.

Thank you in advance!
Junkomama

[2006]

I am not an expert on the subjunctive, but I don't think these sentences are subjunctive. They both express past actions/habits.

#1 is correct but you can also say, 'Those who attended the (party)(parties) brought some food (with them).' (Your sentence has the possibility that the people brought the food before the party took place.)

#2...'After we ate lunch, we would go shopping.' is correct. (no "a" before "lunch")
You can also say:
a) Afer we ate lunch, we went shopping.
b) After we had eaten lunch, we (would go)(went) shopping.

"have eaten" would be correct in a sentence like, 'After we (have eaten)(eat) lunch, we (will) (should) go shopping.'

[Junkomama]

Hello, 2006-san.
I'm afraid I could not express what I wanted to know clearly because of my poor English, so I try to ask again.

I'm not planning a party now, but if I held one, I would ask those who were going to join to bring some food or drink.
After we had finished eating and cleared the table, we would play table games.

Are these sentenses correct?
I think using "the guests" might be better instead of "tose who were going to join", but I'd like to know if we shoud use subjunctive mood in the relative clause.

Regards,
Junkomama

[2006]

I see. Yes, if you are saying something contrary to fact, you should use the subjunctive "were".
If I were to hold a party, I would ask the guests to bring some food or drink. (but you are not going to hold a party)

After we (had) finished eating and (had) cleared the table, we would play table games. (The "had"s are optional so I would not use them; but if you use one, use both.)

[Junkomama]

Thank you very much, 2006-san!
Ｉ�ｍ　ｇｌａｄ　ｔｏ　ｌｅａｒｎ　ｗｈａｔ　Ｉ　have ｗａｎｔｅｄ　ｔｏ　ｋｎｏｗ　ｆｏｒ　ａ　ｌｏｎｇ　ｔｉｍｅ!

Regards,
Junkomama