Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2021 July 14

= July 14 =

Identifying imperative moods
Grammatical mood makes this (unsourced) claim:
 * In English, the imperative is sometimes used for forming a conditional sentence: for example, "go eastwards a mile, and you'll see it" means "if you go eastwards a mile, you will see it".

Is this unequivocally an imperative construction, though? Given that the whole point is that it doesn't function as one, and that there's no exclamation mark, all I can think of to base that on is the use of the infinitive form of the verb. Which seems a bit thin, given that a bunch of constructions other than the imperative make use of infinitives as well. Maybe I'm overlooking something?

- 2A02:560:4259:7600:D74:5C5B:9A6D:FD9F (talk) 21:49, 14 July 2021 (UTC)
 * It can be either one, depending on whether you're merely reporting a fact, or telling someone to head off in that direction. <-Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots-> 02:36, 15 July 2021 (UTC)


 * A bare infinitive can only be used as the main verb of a clause in very few constructions (e.g., "Why wait?"). The construction above is similar to the Biblical "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." (Matthew 7:7) And to, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." (Acts 16:31) I do not see how these can be analyzed as occurrences of infinitives. --Lambiam 07:33, 15 July 2021 (UTC)


 * The original Greek verb forms translated as "ask...seek...knock" and "believe" in those verses are definitely not infinitives (the first three are 2nd. person plural present verb forms ambiguous between imperative and indicative, while the fourth is a 2nd. singular aorist form which is unambiguously imperative). AnonMoos (talk) 08:02, 15 July 2021 (UTC)


 * The same construction is used in other Germanic languages, like Dutch, where the verb is unambiguously an imperative form, not infinitive. PiusImpavidus (talk) 09:01, 15 July 2021 (UTC)


 * Thanks, all. I'm just going to blame the excerpt's phrasing for leading me astray into the blinkered assumption that this usage is a quirk of English alone!
 * - (OP) 2A02:560:42DC:8200:446C:77E6:DF9F:92C5 (talk) 09:36, 15 July 2021 (UTC)


 * Also in non-Germanic French, with verb forms that cannot be infinitives: "Demandez, et l’on vous donnera; cherchez, et vous trouverez; frappez, et l’on vous ouvrira." Likewise in the Vulgate: "Petite, et dabitur vobis: quaerite, et invenietis: pulsate, et aperietur vobis." --Lambiam 20:05, 15 July 2021 (UTC)