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MrPedantic Posted 19 years ago
Linguistics Studies
The past subjunctive in the past
0 This sentence turned up on another forum: 02 br
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00 1. Well, if I ___ there when the MD took off her knickers, I don't remember any of it. 02 br
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00 What should fill the blank: "was" or "were"? 02 br
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00 My money's on "was": "if" here means "accepting the fact that"; it doesn't present 00 the cause or condition of the consequent clause. 02 br
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00 Other native speakers accepted "were", however, which sounds very strange to me. 02 br
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00 What do you think? 02 br
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00 MrP 0-
02 br
00 1. Well, if I ___ there when the MD took off her knickers, I don't remember any of it. 02 br
02 br
00 What should fill the blank: "was" or "were"? 02 br
02 br
00 My money's on "was": "if" here means "accepting the fact that"; it doesn't present 00 the cause or condition of the consequent clause. 02 br
02 br
00 Other native speakers accepted "were", however, which sounds very strange to me. 02 br
02 br
00 What do you think? 02 br
02 br
00 MrP 0-
Top answer
0 In my dialect, it's always "were". Anytime there's an "If I" + the verb "to be" it's gonna be "were" no matter what follows. I heard that usage was dying out in British English?
- 0 In my dialect, it's always "were".
- Anytime there's an "If I" + the verb "to be" it's gonna be "were" no matter what follows.
- I heard that usage was dying out in British English?
- Is that true?
- To me, "If I was" sounds quite incorrect.
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4 Answers
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0 In my dialect, it's always "were". Anytime there's an "If I" + the verb "to be" it's gonna be "were" no matter what follows. I heard that usage was dying out in British English? Is that true? To me, "If I was" sounds quite incorrect. 0-
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0 Thanks very much, Marvin! 02 br
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00 The past subjunctive is still common in BrE where the condition is open, e.g. 02 br
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00 1. If I were you, I'd buy a different hat. 02 br
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00 2. If that were the case, we would all need to do X. 02 br
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00 The past indicative is always used however where the fact in the if-claus
02 br
00 The past subjunctive is still common in BrE where the condition is open, e.g. 02 br
02 br
00 1. If I were you, I'd buy a different hat. 02 br
02 br
00 2. If that were the case, we would all need to do X. 02 br
02 br
00 The past indicative is always used however where the fact in the if-claus
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0 01 blockquote
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01 i 00 Were 02 i 00 is incorrect. 02 br
02 b
01 cite 10 MrPedantic 12 cite 10 1. Well, if I ___ there when the MD took off her knickers, I don't remember any of it. 12 br10 Hi MrP 02 br
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10 What should fill the blank: "was" or "were"? 12 br
12 blockquote
02 br
01 i 00 Were 02 i 00 is incorrect. 02 br
02 b
00
0 Hi Mr. P - 02 br
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00 Although that first instinct is to jump on "were" with that "if I..." lead-in, I agree that it should be "was" - because it's apparently true, and 01 i 00 not 02 i 00 contrary to fact. 0-
02 br
00 Although that first instinct is to jump on "were" with that "if I..." lead-in, I agree that it should be "was" - because it's apparently true, and 01 i 00 not 02 i 00 contrary to fact. 0-
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