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ESLBeginner Posted 17 years ago
Vocabulary
"if it weren't for"
Hello, I'm curious; would someone please tell me why it is "if it weren't for ...", not "if it was not for ..."?
Thank you in advance.
Thank you in advance.
Top answer
" If someone saves your life, you would say: Thanks a lot! If it WERE not for you (but it WAS because of him/her), I would not be here now. When you talk about something in the past, it is now acceptable to use WAS: If it WAS not for George Washington, we would not have a United States of America.
- " If someone saves your life, you would say: Thanks a lot!
- If it WERE not for you (but it WAS because of him/her), I would not be here now.
- When you talk about something in the past, it is now acceptable to use WAS: If it WAS not for George Washington, we would not have a United States of America.
- Perhaps in past years, many people would have used WERE, but nowadays most books say it's not necessary.
- You can find many articles at this website about the SUBJUNCTIVE.
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1 Answers
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In so-called choice English, if something at the present time is NOT true, then it is preferable to use "WERE." If someone saves your life, you would say: Thanks a lot! If it WERE not for you (but it WAS because of him/her), I would not be here now. When you talk about something in the past, it is now acceptable to use WAS: If it WAS not for George Washington, we would not have a United States
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