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Anonymous Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

Verb tenses on Globe and mail

Hi, I came across this article dealing with grammatical error on globe and mail's article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/community/inside-the-globe/public-editor-egregious-grammatical-errors-caught-by-globe-readers/article22721792/

There is one error that I don't understand:
“What if anorexia wasn’t a disorder, but a passion?”
why should "wasnt" be "werent"? I thought wasnt would be the correct

Thanks
  

Top answer

Purists prefer the subjunctive form were , but many speakers of BrE see nothing wrong with indicative was these days.

— Fivejedjon

  • Purists prefer the subjunctive form were , but many speakers of BrE see nothing wrong with indicative was these days.
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2 Answers
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Purists prefer the subjunctive form were, but many speakers of BrE see nothing wrong with indicative was these days.
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Anonymouswhy should "wasnt" be "werent"? Shouldn't "wasn't" be "weren't"?
Both are correct. "weren't" makes it more formal. It seems the British are more likely to use "wasn't" in that grammatical environment, but Americans use it too. Americans may be more likely to use "weren't", but the British use it too.
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