Means of Expressing Grammatical Modality

Grammatical or syntactic modality is of common nature in English and Ukrainian as well. It expresses actions viewed upon as real, unreal, optative, hypothetic, conditional, incentive, interrogative, etc. The principal means of expressing such actions are mood forms of the verb (indicative, imperative and subjunctive). These mood forms are realized respectively in declarative, interrogative and negative sentences of wishful, hypothetical or conditional modality. The English grammatical modality can be expressed in three mood forms: Suppositional (Subjunctive I) mood, Subjunctive II mood, Conditional mood.

In many cases these types of the English Subjunctive mood can be conveyed by the corresponding Subjunctive mood forms in Ukrainian, e.g.: I wonder sometimes, when I think of it, what they would have done, if I had been taken with an illness (Ch. Dickens). − Я інколи думаю про те, як би вони вчинили, якщо б я захворів.

However, this is not the only way of rendering the Subjunctive mood in the target language: it is often translated by the Indicative mood sometimes the infinitive is used instead, e.g.: The doctor received them as if he had known them for years. − Доктор прийняв їх так, як ніби він знав їх багато років.

I proposed to Ada that morning, that we should go and see Richard (Ch. Dickens). − Вранці я запропонувала Аді піти відвідати Ричарда.

Ways of Translating the Suppositional Mood (Subjunctive I)

Subjunctive I formed with the help of the auxiliary verb should (for all the persons singular/plural) and infinitive (without particle to) is used in the following cases:

a) in subject clauses after a principal clause the type: it is (was) necessary; it is (was) important; it is (was) right; it is (was) requested; it is (was) recommended; it is (was) obligatory; it is (was) better (best); it is (was) desirable; it is (was) of vital importance; it is (was) suggested; it is (was) demanded; it is (was) ordered, e.g.: It is important that the real situation should be examined because anything that promotes irrational differences between earnings in the industry is bound to cause trouble – Важливо (=слід) вивчити реальний стан справ у промисловості, оскільки все, що сприяє неологічній розбіжності у заробітках, пов’язане з виникненням проблем.

It was necessary that the child’s history should be known to none (A. Trollope). – Треба було, щоб про історію цієї дитини ніхто не дізнався.

It was desirable that she … should marry this earnest, well-to-do and respectable man (Th. Hardy). – Було бажано, щоб вона … вийшла заміж за цю серйозну, спроможну і солідну людину;

b) in object clauses after the principal clauses with verbs and word-groups denoting order, suggestion, advice, desire, etc.: he orders (ordered); he suggests (suggested); he proposes (proposed); he demands (demanded); he desires (desired); he insists (insisted); he is anxious (was anxious); he will see (he saw) to it…, e.g.: We propose that all children should be transferred, at the age of eleven or twelve, from the junior or primary school. – Ми пропонуємо, щоб дітей переводили з початкової школи у віці 11-12 років;

Western and Arab diplomats and other specialists on Gulf affairs have suggested that the American Administration should clearly outline its policy towards the Gulf countries. – Дипломати західних і арабських країн та спеціалісти з питань Перської затоки запропонували американській адміністрації чітко визначити свою позицію стосовно країн цього регіону;

c) in object clauses introduced by the conjunction lest (якби не) if in the principal clause the predicate is expressed by a verb denoting ‘fear’, e.g.: She fears lest she should be blamed. – Вона боїться, якби її не засудили.

The anxiety was felt lest someone else should arrive (J. Galsworthy). – Ми турбувалися, якби не прийшов ще хто-небудь;

d) in conditional subordinate clauses and can be translated by means of the words у випадку, якщо, якби. Such sentences may have an inverted word-order without the conjunction if in the original, e.g.: Should our plant succeed (= if our plant should succeed) in saling its production we may increase our income. – Якби наше підприємство змогло успішно збути свою продукцію, то ми могли б збільшити свій прибуток.

I’ll be at the Haywain if you should change your mind (Eden). – Я буду в готелі Хейван, якщо ти раптом передумаєш.