zodiac25 Apr 2005

I can't think of a common-use situation where the phrase "go ahead" isn't a command - or at least a subtle or weak close cousin.

Okay - mostly because -=Dark_Angel=-,P.I. knows better, yes I can. In a bank-teller's line, for example, you might say, "Can I go ahead of you?" But I'm sure we can agree that's nothing like the case we're talking about here.

Ibid as far as "ignore me, don't hire me," etc etc goes. Dovina probably meant something closer to "you ignore me, you don't hire me," etc, but that's not what she said. What she said has no other English usage, common or not, except mandative.

Does German have a mandative tense with distinct conjugations? (I figure it's probably known in German as a 14-syllable word meaning roughly, 'the way we talk to each other all the time', but that's another matter.)