answersLogoWhite

0

The original term, "May God bless you" was contracted into "God bless you," or sometimes just "God bless."

The verb "bless" is used in this phrase instead of "blesses" because it is in the subjunctive mood. The subjunctive mood expresses a hope, wish, possibility, or opinion. The subjunctive mood is hard to distinguish in modern English because it often has the same form as the indicative mood, which indicates a factual statement. The subjunctive mood is easiest to see in the 3rd person (he, she, it) or in this case "God."

NOTE: Most modern-English speakers don't use the subjunctive mood regularly, but it lingers in phrases that have been around for a long time, such as "God bless you" or "Long live the queen." "Long live the queen" doesn't express a fact that the queen spoken of has lived or is living a long life, (which would be expressed by saying "Long lives the Queen") but rather the hope of the speaker that the queen will indeed live a long life.

SUBSEQUENT ADDITION: The subjunctive mood in such constructions has virtually disappeared from British English but is very common in American English, where it is standard. American: "They demand that the fighting come to an end" (present); "They demanded that the fighting come to an end end' (past). British: "They demand that the fighting comes to an end" (present); "They demanded that the fighting came to an end" (past). The American usage requires the subjunctive mood regardless of the time of the action, the British the simple present and simple past (and future when appropriate). There are British grammarians who regard the American usage as more faithful to historical English usage and the British usage as a regrettable modernism.

User Avatar

Wiki User

9y ago

What else can I help you with?

Related Questions

How do you say blessed in Samoan?

Bless = fa'amanuia Blessed cannot be found.


Are Mexicans also blessed in 'God Bless America'?

God Bless America is referring to the United States of America in specific. If you'd like to bless the Mexicans, say God Bless Mexico :)


Can Blessed be pronounced BLESS-ED and blessed?

Yes. one has the Bless-Ed Mother ( Saint Mary) and also you can say-the Bishop blessed ( one sylabble) the statue. In older times the contraction Blest was used for the shorter form ( islands of the Blest).


What does Liam Payne say instead of bless you?

Kazontight


What does barikiwa mean in Swahili?

blessedorWhen someone sneezes, you can say "Barikiwa" which would be "Bless you".Correction: "Bless you" would be ubarikiwe, a subjective form perhaps better translated as "may you be blessed." Barikiwa is a verb stem for the the passive form of kubariki, to bless, , i.e., "to be blessed"; it does not include the affixes indicating person and tense. The noun for bariki is baraka, blessing.


How do you say good day and god bless in french?

Good day: Bon jour God bless: Dieu benit


What other words can I say instead of saying god bless you?

Gesundheit, suland


How do you say Have a blessed day in Portuguese?

You say "tenha um dia abençoado".


Can we say go bless you or bless you?

Better to say Bless You


How do you say have a nice day in Malaysia?

have a blessed sunday to everyone


Have a blessed day in Latin?

In Latin, you can say "Diei benedictus esto" to wish someone a blessed day. This phrase translates to "Be blessed on this day" in English. Latin is a highly inflected language, so the word order can vary without changing the meaning significantly.


How do you say have a blessed day in spanish?

I hope you have a blessed day in spanish is: Ojala que tienes una dia bendita. To have a blessed day is: tener una dia bendita