The politeness principle of subjunctive mood

【Abstract】In English， subjunctive mood is an essential way to express the colorful inner world and the true feelings of speakers through the special form of the verb. In addition， to master its syntactic form， we need also to understand its unique pragmatic functions. In this article， we will mainly elaborate the usage of the subjunctive mood from the pragmatic aspect on the basis of absorbing the literature and daily communication. This article hopes to improve English learners understanding of the subjunctive mood and its application， so as to truly solve English learners big difficulty in grasping the subjunctive mood.

【Key words】subjunctive mood； Speech Act theory； politeness theory； pragmatic function

1. Introduction

Subjunctive mood， as a special form of expression， the form of the subjunctive verb is used to express a condition which is not factual or doubtful. In this article， I just want to study the classification of the subjunctive mood on the pragmatic function. As there are quite rich classifications of the subjunctive mood， and the usage is the life of language， the combination of them will produce perfect results.

2. Definition of the Subjunctive Mood

What is the subjunctive mood in English？ As is defined in Oxford Dictionaries， the worlds most trusted dictionaries， the subjunctive mood is used to express situations which are hypothetical or not yet realized and are typically used for what is imagined， hoped for， demanded， or expected （Onions， 1971）.The subjunctive mood shows the speakers thought instead of facts. It reflects the speakers assumption， doubt， desire， wish， speculation， suggestion and pity， etc.

3. Analysis of Subjunctive Mood from Politeness Principle

China is famous for her “Nation of the etiquette”， therefore， in the process of foreign communications， we all need to pay more attention to the politeness principle using the Polite Language Strategy properly in the process of communication. Such as：

a. You must pay before next Monday， otherwise we could hardly go on with our discussion.

b. You ought to pay before next Monday； otherwise we could hardly go on with our discussion.

In the example， the second sentence seems to be more politeness and euphemism， with the subjunctive mood. However， the first sentence is a command， which is more directly and have a little tart. The politeness principle is the realizing condition of the cooperative principle. It can be defined as the means employed to show awareness of another persons face. So， it can be said that an act performed to respect the face of others is considered to be polite， otherwise it is impolite.

Subjunctive mood as a grammatical method can also achieve the expression of euphemism. Such as the expression of indicative mood： “Please write me letters. I would be most grateful”， the expression of subjunctive mood is that： “If you would write me a letter， I would be most grateful”. The latter expression is more euphemistic to state.

4. Conclusion

Subjunctive mood as an important part in English， it is a euphemistic expression of real feelings， and the basis of the Ecommerce. Because of the usage of subjunctive mood， language has a sense of beauty， thus， it has become the bonds of emotional communication. Sentence with subjunctive mood really conveys a magic of complex emotions， which is more euphemistic to express order and suggestion， and plays an important role in various kinds of relationship. With the continuous improvement of civilization， and societies are becoming plural ones， human language are becoming more and more modest and polite. Through the usage of subjunctive mood， people can make their expression of wishes， order or other emotions safer and more polite， and make their communication successful. All in all， only mastered the skill， trait and principle of subjunctive mood in the communication， can we make our communication successful， and actively promote our corporation successful.

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作者簡介：車心玉（1993-），女，漢族，哈爾濱師范大學2016級西語學院研究生，研究方向：心理語言學。