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English 1b3 Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

If I were/was

I read somewhere that you cannot change the subjunctive form to the indicative form if you simply want to change a hypothetical statement to a non-hypothetical one. Surely this is wrong. I've always believed you can:

If I were angry, I would not do that.

If I was angry, then I would not do that.

Thanks
  

Top answer

I think the statement is essentially correct. What you have done is replace the subjunctive 'were' in a hypothetical situation with the indicative 'was' in a hypothetical situation. The latter is becoming more common and less reprehensible day by day.

— Mister Micawber

  • I think the statement is essentially correct.
  • What you have done is replace the subjunctive 'were' in a hypothetical situation with the indicative 'was' in a hypothetical situation.
  • The latter is becoming more common and less reprehensible day by day.
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2 Answers
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I think the statement is essentially correct. What you have done is replace the subjunctive 'were' in a hypothetical situation with the indicative 'was' in a hypothetical situation. The latter is becoming more common and less reprehensible day by day.
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I think I agree with it too, based on the sentences above. But with a sentence, like below, it should be indicative. So changing the verb, changes the situation from hypothetical to non-hypothetical.

If I was angry, I generally would...

I'm not sure if this can be changed to a non-hypothetical, but this one can:

He looks as if he knows the answer. (= He seems to know
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