How to parse. ...

Par. x89, I9o.] THE SUBJUNCTIVE.

125

The answer is, that we desire here to speak of
the facts, not as definite facts, but as possibilities.
In the same indefinite way we sometimes use the
Infinitive, as being an Indefinite Mood:(6) " It is a shamefor me to be thus insulted."
Consequently, this use of "should " may be called
the Indefinite Subjunctive.
189 Tenses of the Subjunctive.
It is usual to speak of the Present and Past Tenses of a
Subjunctive: but, in reality, " if'he comes " refers to future
time, and so does " if he came or should come."
It may perhaps be said that, in " if he come(s), I will see
him;" the Condition, though having to do with the Future,
is regarded as Present to the speakers. Nevertheless, the
fact that the Elizabethan writers often used to say "If he
shall come," indicates that this form is more like a Future
than any thing else.
The form " if lie should come " seems to be a combination
of Future and Past - the Future being represented by the
shall, and the Past by the Inflection -d-as though with
the intention of making a Condition that should apply to
no time in particular, but to all time.
The same intention seems obvious in " if he were to come,"
where the Past time is included in " were," and the Future
in " to," which looks " to-ward" the future.
The False Subjunctive.
I90 "If" is sometimes used not in its ordinary Conditional sense, nor, on the other hand, exactly like
1 For to... be insulted," is really here the Old Infinitive with
"for to " instead of " to." See Par. 402.