Question
Updated on
27 Nov 2022
- English (US)
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Simplified Chinese (China)
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Spanish (Spain)
Question about English (US)
Pray that the Lord has mercy on his soul.
Should it be “has” or “have”?
Pray that the Lord has mercy on his soul.
Should it be “has” or “have”?
Should it be “has” or “have”?
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- English (US)
It could be “has” or “will have”. Just “have” by itself is plural, so it would have to be “the Lords”.
Highly-rated answerer
- English (US)
@svejk Thanks. Can you explain to me why this is grammatically correct then?
“May the Lord have mercy.”
Presumably, “have” here is in the subjunctive mood, but in my initial sentence, are you saying that the subjunctive cannot follow the imperative “pray” and “to have” must therefore be conjugated in the simple present tense?
“May the Lord have mercy.”
Presumably, “have” here is in the subjunctive mood, but in my initial sentence, are you saying that the subjunctive cannot follow the imperative “pray” and “to have” must therefore be conjugated in the simple present tense?
Highly-rated answerer
- English (US)
@Ivan_Karamazov It's because of the "may", which functions like "can". By analogy, these are all correct:
1. He has mercy.
2. He can have mercy.
3. Can he have mercy?
4. May he have mercy.
5. Let him have mercy.
"Have" here is in the infinitive.
Highly-rated answerer
- English (US)
@svejk Ah, so wouldn’t my initial sentence be similar to your fifth example sentences because we are talking about an imperative followed by the present subjunctive?
Highly-rated answerer
- English (US)
- English (US)
@Ivan_Karamazov I see what you're trying to do, but it sounds very strange to me with a subjunctive. I think you can probably say that, but if you do, it would sound extremely archaic, like you're reading from some translated medieval texts. Modern usage would just say "has".
Highly-rated answerer
- English (US)
@Ivan_Karamazov Infinitives can be used without the "to". For example, "I can swim" is the present tense "can" with the infinitive "swim".
Highly-rated answerer
- English (US)
@svejk Ah yea you’re definitely right about the bare infinitive!
I mean it is certainly old-fashioned (wouldn’t quite say medieval) but that’s typically how theological language sounds, I guess. My question is less about whether it’s something you would hear in modern colloquial discourse and more about whether it is grammatically proper.
It’s funny, though, because “have” actually sounds more natural to my ear, so that’s what I wrote at first, but then I started wondering if it’s incorrect.
I mean it is certainly old-fashioned (wouldn’t quite say medieval) but that’s typically how theological language sounds, I guess. My question is less about whether it’s something you would hear in modern colloquial discourse and more about whether it is grammatically proper.
It’s funny, though, because “have” actually sounds more natural to my ear, so that’s what I wrote at first, but then I started wondering if it’s incorrect.
Highly-rated answerer
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