Part 213

+Ich ~bestehe darauf~, daß sich der Lord ~entferne~.+ (Schiller.)

I insist upon the Lord’s retiring.

§ 30. With regard to the Tense in which the Subjunctive ought to stand in subordinate clauses of the character mentioned above, the general rule is, that—

=We use the same tense of the Subjunctive Mood which, in direct speech, or in a principal clause, would be used in the Indicative Mood=,

except that

=the Perfect of the Subjunctive is used instead of the Imperfect of the Indicative, and that the Pluperfect of the Indicative is changed into the Perfect of the Subjunctive, with the help of one of the conjunctions +ehe+, +bevor+, and +nachdem+.=

The following table will make this clear:—

Direct Speech. Indirect Speech.

+Er sagte: »Ich lese.«+ +Er sagte, er lese.+ (Present (Present.) Subj.)

+Er sagte: »Ich habe gelesen.«+ +Er sagte, er habe gelesen.+ (Perfect.) (Perfect Subj.)

+Er sagte: »Ich werde lesen.«+ +Er sagte, er werde lesen.+ (First Future.) (First Future Subjunctive.)

+Er sagte: »Ich werde gelesen +Er sagte, er werde gelesen haben+ haben+ (Second Future), +wenn (Second Future Subj.), +wenn sein mein Freund mich abholen wird.«+ Freund ihn abholen werde+ (First (First Future.) Future Subjunctive).

But— But—

+Er sagte: »Ich las, als sein +Er sagte, er =habe gelesen=, als Freund schrieb.«+ (Imperfect.) sein Freund =geschrieben habe=.+ (Perfect Subjunctive.)

+Er sagte: »Ich hatte gelesen+ +Er sagte, er =habe gelesen=+ (Pluperfect), +als mein Freund (Perfect Subjunctive), +=ehe= schrieb.«+ (Imperfect.) sein Freund =geschrieben habe=.+ (Perfect Subjunctive.)

It will be seen, therefore, that =the verb= in the subordinate clause =stands either in the Present, in the Perfect, or in the Future=.

EXAMPLES.

+Der Diener antwortete, er ~sei~ nicht imstande die Arbeit zu thun, denn er ~sei~ zu schwach.+ (Present Subj.)

The servant answered that he was unable to do the work, for he was too weak.

+Er erzählte mir, er ~habe~ ein Unglück ~gehabt~.+ (Perfect Subj.)

He told me he had met with a misfortune.

+Sie behauptete, daß sie nie in ihrem Leben krank ~gewesen sei~.+ (Perfect Subj.)

She affirmed that she had never been ill in all her life.

+Er sagte, daß er sich um eine Stelle bewerben ~werde~.+ (First Future.)

He said that he was going to apply for a situation.

§ 31. =The Imperfect and Pluperfect Subjunctive, however, must be used instead of the Present and Perfect Subjunctive, and the Conditional instead of the Future Subjunctive=, when any ambiguity might arise as to the mood employed, that is to say in cases where the form of the Present, of the Perfect, or of the Future is identical both in the Indicative and the Subjunctive Mood. For example, in the sentence—

»+Sie sagte mir, ihre Töchter ~gingen~ niemals auf Bälle+;«

‘She said to me that her daughters never went to balls;’