nikhil.jones.s wrote:
Hello everyone,
I had a small doubt with respect to parallelism in a sentence in the subjunctive mood.
Which of the following is grammatically correct?
A) Our Principal suggests that we prepare rigorously and take good sleep.
B) Our Principal suggests that we prepare rigorously and that we take good sleep.
Also, I am confused and ignorant of the uses of the semi colon - ;. Does it function as a but, an and or any conjunction in general? Is it correct to say the following,
1)John did not win the tournament; rather Jim won the tournament. (I am assuming the ; does the work of but)
2)In 1984 the GDP growth rate was 4.5%; in 2009 it was 6.7%. (I am assuming the ; does the work of and)
Moreover, do correct me if I have made any other grammatical errors in this post as that would certainly help me.
I'll just answer the first question since it's the one I'm most comfortable with. Others can jump in on semi-colons.
Even though, the grammar for both A & B is not great, both sentences are correct. Think about the object of your sentences as X and Y, i.e
A) Our principal suggests that we do X and Y (Both are parallel as he is saying that you should Prepare rigorously and sleep well)
B) Our Principal suggests that we do X and that we do Y. (Same as above).
"That" is not always necessary in sentences like those you chose.
When you have a difference with a subjunctive is when you are using the third person because the subjunctive always keeps the PURE form of the verb, which is called the infinitive. See the examples below:
(1) He PREPARE(S) for tests vigorously
(2) I suggest that he PREPARE for his tests vigorously.
The subjunctive always takes the pure verb form and cannot be accented for number.