Conditional sentence
Hello,
In this sentence: "If he knew he was/were going to become a millionaire tomorrow, what would he do?"
Is the subjunctive form needed? I wouldn't put it there, but I can't really figure out why.
Thank you for any explanation
Top answer
In the lottery office, the lottery winning number has been drawn. It is 8-13-23-45-47. The prize is two million dollars.
- In the lottery office, the lottery winning number has been drawn.
- It is 8-13-23-45-47.
- The prize is two million dollars.
- One ticket has been sold with that number, according to the records.
- They will announce the winning number tomorrow.
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In the lottery office, the lottery winning number has been drawn. It is 8-13-23-45-47. The prize is two million dollars. One ticket has been sold with that number, according to the records. They will announce the winning number tomorrow.
John has a lottery ticket. It reads 8-13-23-45-47.
The statements above are facts. A person in the lottery office is a friend of John's. He says,
0grogwas/were
Both are acceptable. Changing 'was' to 'were' in an if-clause is more formal.
Americans tend to use the 'were' form a bit more than the British do in such clauses.
It's not really necessary to call the 'were' form (past) subjunctive anymore these days. be is the only verb that shows this particular behavior. Except
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