Alex Freed wrote:
<bieling@terra.es> wrote in message 1169206259.803313.66140@v45g2000cwv.googlegroups.com">news:1169206259.803313.66140@v45g2000cwv.googlegroups.com...Alex Freed ha escrito:even one "is" doesn't belong here. Should be "I didn't know he WAS Italian."In spanish, you wouldn't say that unless he's (was ?) actually dead.S� pero estoy utilizando ingl�s. And would you believe the correct English would be: "you wouldn't say that unless he WERE actually dead".
That "were" is the subjunctive, because it is part of a contrary-to-fact conditional.
What can I say - English is quite different from Spanish. A lot of crazy things in itbut at least we don't need to learn a lot of irregular verb congugations. Disclaimer: I'm not an English teacher.Disclaimer #2: last time I learned English was in high school. A very long time ago.
-michael NadaNet networking for Apple II computers! Home page: http://members.aol.com/MJMahon/ "The wastebasket is our most important design tool--and it's seriously underused."