English grammar

[NotAllThere]

Why is it "How dare he speak to me like that", rather than "How dare he speaks to me like that"?

[Sysman]

Subjunctive I think...

[NotAllThere]

That's it.

thanks.

[suityou01]

NAT, could you move this to LR?

Thanks

SY01

[VectraMan]

Subjunctive I think...

Surely it's just "speak" because it's the second verb, and therefore in the infinitive. Subjunctive would be "if he spoke to me like that", although in the case of "spoke" it's the same as the normal past tense. "If he were to speak to me like that" would definitely be the subjunctive for "were" instead of "was".

Maybe.

[OwlHoot]

Why is it "How dare he speak to me like that", rather than "How dare he speaks to me like that"?

"How dare he" is a quaint way of saying "how does he dare to". (*)

So try saying "how does he dare to speaks to me like that?"

edit: (*) So in other words, the "he" goes with "dare" rather than "speak".

[Doggy Styles]

What is Bob's opinion?

[Peoplesoft bloke]

What is Bob's opinion?

Bob almost certainly knows more about English grammar than most native speakers.

[Drewster]

Bob almost certainly knows more about English grammar than most native speakers.

That is being a correct wording. I am thanking you.