Should and the subjunctive be....

You saw in the first part of our lesson on adverbials that expressed conditions.   If + clause is frequent, and here are some interesting variations that can replace 'If'. 

Should

    • Should you shield the canyons from the windstorms, you would never see the true beauty of their carvings. (Elisabeth Kubler Ross)
    • Should you ever visit Berne, you may see the good old man. Sir Walter Scott, (Anne of Gieirstein)

Were + Subject + TO VERB

    • Were he to do it in sight of witnesses, no one would doubt that it was the actor John Wilkes Booth. (Benjamin King, A Bullet for Lincoln)
    • Yet were we to go home now and leave Japan free, we know exactly what would happen. (George Woodward Wickersham)

(You can replace all of these expressions using a conditional 'If' clause.

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