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Khoshtip Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

If and was/were

Hi,

In this sentence, if I were you....
Why I should use of were instead of was?
What about other persons? If she was/were, if they was/were and so on?
Is there any rule in this relation in Englis?
  

Top answer

The past subjunctive of to be is always were in formal English. Was is used in informal style for the 1st and 3rd person singular. In other words, you can say if I was/were but you can never say if they was.

— Cool Breeze

  • The past subjunctive of to be is always were in formal English.
  • Was is used in informal style for the 1st and 3rd person singular.
  • In other words, you can say if I was/were but you can never say if they was.
  • CB
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6 Answers
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The past subjunctive of to be is always were in formal English. Was is used in informal style for the 1st and 3rd person singular.

In other words, you can say if I was/were but you can never say if they was.

CB
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So your last sentence; "you can say if I was/were but you can never say if they was." is in informal state as well, yes?
And if we want to use of formal state we must say; if I were and if they were and the same for other persons (1st, 2nd, 3rd,...), yes?
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khoshtipSo your last sentence; "you can say if I was/were but you can never say if they was." is in informal state as well, yes?
I'm not sure what you mean.
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Thanks.

About that above sentence I meant, If I say, "If I was ...." it's not wrong but it's informal", right?
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khoshtipIf I say, "If I was ...." it's not wrong but it's informal", right?
Right! - CB
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