Tin: Conditional in (1i:i{3ian. iVA 



couditioiial Siil)iiUR'tivc bt'i-aiise it exprossi'S just what tin* 

 Conditional Modi* .should express. By (\)ntlitional Mtxh^ I 

 do not mean Conditional for ))i, for wo have several forms to 

 express the same idea, l)ut ilic pccnlior mode of Hioiif/lif 

 whieh tlu'se various f(n-nis all more or less distinctively con- 

 vey to the mind of the hearer or reader. AVhat is the truth in 

 re<::ard to the malterV In other words, what do we mean by 

 Condifion<d Mode/ These arc questions that cannot he an- 

 swered until we consider the various modes of thouij:ht and 

 their form of expression. Then we can resume our considera- 

 tion of the oriiijin of the two conditional forms ivurdc liebcn. 

 irurdc (jclicht h(d)cn and show the gradual diflPereutiation in 

 the meaning of solltc, icolUc and ?6Vf ;•(?(', giving the reason for 

 present usage. Let us then briefly consider the ditt'erent 

 modes in their relations to, and differences from, one another. 



The Indicative expresses the simple thought of the speaker 

 which corresponds exactly to the reality, while the Conditional 

 expresses a thought which corresponds to a reality only as- 

 sumed for the time being by the speaker. The Subjunctive 

 also exi^resses a thought, but only as considered l)y the speaker. 

 Generally speaking, the Indicative and Conditional are the 

 modal forms for judgments of the speaker, and hence the 

 modal forms of independent clauses, whereas the Subjunctive 

 is the modal fortn of thoughts which rei)resent, not the judg- 

 ment of the speaker, but a thought considered by him ; it is 

 therefore the modal form of dependent clauses. 



Following the example of the Latin Grammar the German 

 Grammar did not distinguish the Conditional as a special 

 mode in earlier times, but included it, inasmuch as it is formed 

 from the past tense-forms, among the tense-forms of the past 

 Subjunctive. If we examine the signification of these forms, 

 we must distinguish the Conditional, if we have any decided 

 idea of modal relations at all, as that form of a conceptive 

 thought which assumes something contradictory (antitheti- 

 cal ) in its very nature, from the Subjunctive, as that form 

 of thought which is only contemplated. Several older Latin 

 and German grammarians, following the example of the 

 Greeks, have really distinguished the Conditional as a special 



