In the following ariticle about Paris Hilton, I wonder "she not serve ...." is gramartically wrong, and it should be " she did not serve ..." or "she would not serve ...." Please teach me. Thanks
Judge Michael T. Sauer, who specified at Hilton's sentencing last month that
she not serve time at home or with the use of electronic monitoring, sent
her back to jail last Friday, saying he hadn't condoned her release.
2007-06-17 08:00:33 · 3 answers · asked by Taro K 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
It is correct, and it means basically the same thing as "she could not serve" or "she would not be allowed to serve". The structure is called the subjunctive. It is very advanced; even many English native speakers never, ever use it. You will mainly see it in quite formal writing.
2007-06-17 09:18:39 · answer #1 · answered by obro 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, its correct, its quite formal (or would it be better to say, "legal", legal language often sounds rather strange). It means "she will not serve time (is not to serve time) ..." because there is a preferred alternative.
2007-06-18 02:25:57 · answer #2 · answered by rathrhadit 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I had to read it twice, but it's right. I can't explain it, though. :-(
2007-06-17 15:10:08 · answer #3 · answered by Colleen 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋