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Anonymous Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

is/was/were

Hi there.

Initially, I used "is", but I'm thinking that I should have used "was/were".

"If there IS/WAS/WERE a way of back-dating entries, I might just set a Wordpress account up."

Thanks.
  

Top answer

Use "is" if you think there really is a way, but you just don't know how to do it. "Is" is not contrary to fact. Use "were" if you think there really is NOT a way to do this, and you know it to be contrary to fact.

— BarbaraPA

  • Use "is" if you think there really is a way, but you just don't know how to do it.
  • "Is" is not contrary to fact.
  • Use "were" if you think there really is NOT a way to do this, and you know it to be contrary to fact.
  • This is the subjunctive.
  • Technically, you should not use "was" -- but you're going to hear that more and more as the subjunctive slowly disappears from American English.
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2 Answers
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Use "is" if you think there really is a way, but you just don't know how to do it. "Is" is not contrary to fact.

Use "were" if you think there really is NOT a way to do this, and you know it to be contrary to fact. This is the subjunctive.

Technically, you should not use "was" -- but you're going to hear that more and more as the subjunctive slowly disappears from American Englis
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Grammar Geek
Technically, you should not use "was" -- but you're going to hear that more and more as the subjunctive slowly disappears from American English.


We could set up "The Society For the Preservation Of the Use Of the Subjunctive In American English" [SPUSAE]. We could collect $2 annual dues. I'll volunteer to be treasurer for the
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