All signs of the subjunctive, indeed, seem to be disappearing from vulgar American. One never hears "if I /were/ you," but always "if I /was/ you." In the third person the /-s/ is not dropped from the verb. One hears, not "if she /go/," but "if she /goes/." "If he /be/ the man" is never heard; it is always "if he /is/." This war upon the forms of the subjunctive, of course, extends to the most formal English. "In Old English," says Bradley,[52] "the subjunctive played as important a part as in modern German, and was used in much the same way. Its inflection differed in several respects from that of the indicative. But the only formal trace of the old subjunctive still remaining, except the use of /be/ and /were/, is the omission of the final /s/ in the third person singular. And even this is rapidly dropping out of use.... Perhaps in another generation the subjunctive forms will have ceased to exist except in the single instance of /were/, which serves a useful function, although we manage to [Pg210] dispense with a corresponding form in other verbs." Here, as elsewhere, unlettered American usage simply proceeds in advance of the general movement. /Be/ and the omitted /s/ are already dispensed with, and even /were/ has been discarded. In the same way the distinction between /will/ and /shall/, preserved in correct English but already breaking down in the most correct American, has been lost entirely in the American common speech. /Will/ has displaced /shall/ completely, save in the imperative. This preference extends to the inflections of both. /Sha'n't/ is very seldom heard; almost always /won't/ is used instead. As for /should/, it is displaced by /ought to/ (degenerated to /oughter/ or /ought'a/), and in its negative form by /hadn't ought'a/, as in "he /hadn't oughter/ said that," reported by Charters. Lardner gives various redundant combinations of /should/ and /ought/, as in "I don't feel as if I /should ought to/ leave" and "they /should not ought to/ of had." I have encountered the same form, but I don't think it is as common as the simple /ought'a/-forms. In the main, /should/ is avoided, sometimes at considerable pains. Often its place is taken by the more positive /don't/. Thus "I /don't/ mind" is used instead of "I /shouldn't/ mind." /Don't/ has also completely displaced /doesn't/, which is very seldom heard. "He /don't/" and "they /don't/" are practically universal. In the same way /ain't/ has displaced /is not/, /am not/, /isn't/ and /aren't/, and even /have not/ and /haven't/. One recalls a famous speech in a naval melodrama of twenty years ago: "We /ain't/ got no manners, but we can fight like hell." Such forms as "he /ain't/ here," "I /ain't/ the man," "them /ain't/ what I want" and "I /ain't/ heerd of it" are common.