Dear Editor,
In your editorial yesterday I noticed the following:
We quoted one of the consultants as saying, “It is important that the contractor ha[s] the will to want to keep the materials.”
The placing of that ‘s’ in brackets suggests that someone was not happy with what was there originally. I believe that the original text was ‘have’ and not ‘has.’
I have written to SN before upon observing incorrect grammar. There has been a notable decline in grammar worldwide partly as a result of the decline in reading. It would be sad if the top newspapers contributed to the state of affairs.
Please note that the rendering “It is important that the contractor have the will” would have been absolutely correct and the change has made the statement grammatically incorrect.
This is because after clauses that describe a state that is not one that exists but which is preferred, the subjunctive mood is required and not the indicative. For example “It is imperative that…” and “It is necessary that…”
The subjunctive mood demands that the form of the verb “to be” in this case be ‘have’ and not ‘has.’ (Again, notice that ‘demands that it be’ and not ‘that it is.’
It is as though the writer were saying (notice ‘were’ and not ‘was’) “It is important that the contractor should have the will’ with the ‘should’ omitted. Too many times the indicative is used when the subjunctive is required (not preferred). For example, the statement “Mama insists that little Johnny bathe every day” has a different premise from “Mama insists that little Johnny bathes every day”. The premise in the first sentence is that he will not bathe every day unless she insists. The second means that she is probably reporting to someone else that he normally takes the action each day. So both are correct depending on what is meant.
The architect who wrote the report was not only a professional in his craft but a grammarian and whoever changed the rendering damaged his well-constructed sentence. It is bad enough having to worry about the building renovation without having to worry about an unjustified renovation of his sentence.
Yours faithfully,
Frederick Collins