Sincere Gratitude to Cafemia

[david10101]

Hi! Members,

Being a self-taught man, -- I have been studying English by myself for the most part throughout my life -- I seem to come up every once in a while with a sort of question that, I think, everybody knows the answer except myself.

Recently I asked Cafemia one of those questions mentioned above. Upon receiving an answer from her a few days later, I was deeply impressed with sincerity, kindness and flawlessness she unsparingly expressed in explaining the answers to my question. The explanation is so authoritative and impeccable that it is, I believe, too precious to keep only for my own and I think I should share it with every one in our cafe.

The question was " Why do people say GOD BLESS YOU instead of GOD BLESSES YOU which I think is grammatically right ? ".

Here goes her explanation :

In regular sayings you are correct in using the third person, such as 'God blesses you' instead of ' God bless you'. However, 'God bless you', is said in a subjunctive mood. The grammar rules about subjunctive mood is explained as follows :

English Subjunctive
The subjunctive is a special, relatively rare verb form in English.

Construction of the Subjunctive
The structure of the subjunctive is extremely simple. For all verbs except the past tense of to be, the subjunctive is the same as the bare infinitive (infinitive without "to"):

to be everything else, same as bare infinitive
past present past and present
I were
you were
he, she, it were
we were
you were
they were I be
you be
he, she, it be
we be
you be
they be I work
you work
he, she, it work
we work
you work
they work
englishclub.com Tip
The subjunctive does not change according to person (I, you, he etc).

Use of the Subjunctive
We use subjunctives mainly when talking about events that are not certain to happen. For example, we use the subjunctive when talking about events that somebody:

wants to happen
hopes will happen
imagines happening
Look at these examples:

The President requests that you be present at the meeting.
It is vital that you be present at the meeting.
If you were at the meeting, the President would be happy.
The subjunctive is typically used after two structures:

the verbs: ask, command, demand, insist, propose, recommend, request, suggest + that
the expressions: it is desirable, essential, important, necessary, vital + that
Here are some examples with the subjunctive:

The manager insists that the car park be locked at night.
The board of directors recommended that he join the company.
It is essential that we vote as soon as possible.
It was necessary that every student submit his essay by the weekend.
Notice that in these structures the subjunctive is always the same. It does not matter whether the sentence is past or present. Look at these examples:

Present: The President requests that they stop the occupation.
Past: The President requested that they stop the occupation.
Present: It essential that she be present.
Past: It was essential that she be present.
englishclub.com Tip
The use of the subjunctive as above is more common in American English than in British English, where should + infinitive is often used: The manager insists that the car park should be locked at night.
It was essential that we should vote as soon as possible.

We usually use the subjunctive were instead of "was" after if (and other words with similar meaning). Look at these sentences:

If I were you, I would ask her.
Suppose she were here. What would you say?
Why do we say "I were", "he were"?
We sometimes hear things like "if I were you, I would go" or "if he were here, he would tell you". Normally, the past tense of the verb "to be" is: I was, he was. But the if I were you structure does not use the past simple tense of the verb "to be". It uses the past subjunctive of the verb "to be". In the following examples, you can see that we often use the subjunctive form were instead of "was" after:

if
as if
wish
suppose
Formal

(The were form is correct at all times.) Informal

(The was form is possible in informal, familiar conversation.)
If I were younger, I would go. If I was younger, I would go.
If he weren't so mean, he would buy one for me. If he wasn't so mean, he would buy one for me.
I wish I weren't so slow! I wish I wasn't so slow!
I wish it were longer. I wish it was longer.
It's not as if I were ugly. It's not as if I was ugly.
She acts as if she were Queen. She acts as if she was Queen.
If I were you, I should tell her. Note: We do not normally say "if I was you", even in familiar conversation.

Some fixed expressions use the subjunctive. Here are some examples:

Long live the King!
God bless America!
Heaven forbid!
Be that as it may, he still wants to see her.
Come what may, I will never forget you.
We are all citizens of the world, as it were.

There is another one that I would like you to read. I think it is quite humorous in how the Americans view themselves. It is also interesting to notice that the freedom of press is quite well and strong in the free world. In some countries such articles would be banned. I hope you will enjoy it:

"God Bless America": Say What?
Just about everywhere I go these days, I see bumperstickers that say "God Bless America." Members of Congress regularly assemble themselves in front of the camera to sing Irving Berlin's "God Bless America." There's a new "God Bless America" picture book out there with a family of flag-waving bears who take trips to Mount Rushmore and the Statue of Liberty. As I bike to work, a billboard overhead proclaims "God Bless America. United We Stand." On NPR last night, they put on a five year old singing "God Bless America" to her daddy.

Given how ubiqitous this phrase has become, I decided it's pretty important to understand it. But the more I ponder "God Bless America," the less I undersand just what it, in a very literal sense, actually means. Grammatically speaking, the phrase doesn't make sense. Someone listening to the phrase has to fill in the blanks to lend it meaning. But exactly how do you do that, and what does that imply?

I did the natural thing for someone with a question: I asked. A bulletin board has been set up to give anyone out of the millions of GBA-ers out there to explain to me the literal meaning of this saying. Unfortunately, as of this date I have had no takers.

Given the resounding silence so far on this issues, it seems I'll have to try to answer my own question. I've been working on this in my head for a while, and here are some possibile meanings I see:

Command: God, Bless America! This is the height of arrogance, telling the supposed supreme ruler of the universe what to do. Of course, people do that all the time, under the guise of "humble" prayer. The speaker of this command is so powerful, so holy, so special that the supreme ruler of the universe listens and obeys. Goodness gracious, I had no idea there were so many holy demigods tooting down the interstate! I guess I'd better be careful about cutting them off in traffic.

Description: God Blesses America. This is not only the height of arrogance but also the height of delusion, supposing to know just what the supposed supreme ruler of the universe prefers. People all around the world seem to get regular jollies out of telling other people what God thinks, so I wouldn't be surprised if some take this as the meaning. The speaker of this statement is either a mind-reader or has chats with the supreme ruler of the universe - a universe of at least 100 Billion galaxies, each with about 100 Billion stars. Certainly, George W. Bush has repeatedly expressed his belief that the United States is favored by the supreme ruler of the universe. He must have insider information, I guess. I suppose that makes George W. Bush the divine representative of God. Wow: I knew the guy was selected, not elected, but boy oh boy does this take the cake!
Request: God, would you please Bless America? While some might take this to be a humbler version of #1, it still makes the bizarre assumption that the speaker actually has an inside line to the personal phone of the supposed supreme ruler of the universe - a universe made up of billions of stars in each of billions of galaxies, making for quadrillions of inhabited planets. Not only is this supposed supreme ruler going to hear the speaker in the first place, he's going to pay some special attention to the speaker, because the speaker is so special.
Testimony: I Like America. In this case, "God Bless" is synonymous with "I Like." This may say something about the ego of the speaker. It may also reflect a strategic choice. The whole idea of organized religion is that somebody's got a monopoly on truth and the rest of us had better shut up and listen. This neat trick is accomplished with reference to some cosmic boogeyman (Satan, the Angel Peter) who will git us if we step out of line. Most Americans are used to this variety of justification; if God Blesses America, America must be right -- and don't even think otherwise, bub!
In any of these cases, the phrase "God Bless America" says a whole lot more about the speaker of the statement than either "God" or "America." And what it says isn't too flattering: the speaker either believes that s/he can read the mind of God, has special access to God for handy requests, can tell God what to do, or just plain is God. Perhaps instead of "God Bless America" for their car, drivers may want to consider one of the following, more clear and upfront bumperstickers:

"Look at Wonderful Me"
"I Am Special"
"I Know What's Going On"
"Sit Down, Shut Up and Do As I Say"
But perhaps these stickers would not be the most accurate, either. As those of us who have encountered bullies know, there's often something beneath bravado. When people slap up those stickers and billboards and break out the "God Bless" songbook, maybe they not only don't mean what they say, but don't even mean what the words imply. Perhaps the real meaning of the phrase "God Bless America" is not "I Am Godly," but really something more like

"Maybe I'm Not Godly"
"Maybe I'm Not in Control of Everything"
"I Don't Know What's Going On"
"I wish Someone Would Tell Me What to Do, 'cause the Hell if I Know!"
"I Wish There Were a God Out There to Protect Me"
What these statements boil down to is "I Am Afraid." And that is an understandable human reaction, since the world is often a frightening place. In the wake of September 11, 2001, even though only one thousandth of one percent of the American public was killed, our focus on the disaster makes us all feel vulnerable. It is alright to be scared. Let's just call it what it is. Let's be honest about it, and be willing to face our weakness.

The alternative -- to protectively delude ourselves into thinking we are gods, to act as though we were divine, to soothe our terror by authorizing acts of vengeance that have the curious effect of throwing others into paroxysms of falsely holy counter-reaction -- is unacceptable. It is unfortunately not true that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." More frightening than fear itself is what fear does: we become what we fear most.


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Do you say, "pshaw!"? Well, if you think you can figure out what "God Bless America" means better than this, then visit the Irregular Times message board dedicated to this very question. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

end

[cafemia]

Thanks david10101, for sharing the articles with the rest of the members.

[신비한]

It is an optative sentence not a subjunctive. So,ommit ----MAY----God bless you!!!!

[옹]

As for me, this is too long to read. It needs patience.ㅠ.ㅠ. I will read this completely some day though.

[cafemia]

Dear 신비한, thanks for your contribution. However, I believe that "God bless you" without the word "may" in front of it is an optative sentence in a subjunctive mood, though it can also be just optative here with the meaning 'if I had the power.' with the exclusion of the word, "may".

[신비한]

Because the sentence is an opative, we can't need to discuss about "BLESSES". DO YOU GOT IT???