Were there
Hello!
A saw a line at a game that confused me.
I'm used to reading "were there" as the past tense of "is there". For example:
Julia and Alex were there with me.
But I've seen it being used to make an assumption, such as:
"Were there any strawberries I would have eaten it"
Can someone tell me more about this use for "were there" ?
Thank you!
Top answer
If there were any strawberries, I would have eaten them . The "if" may be omitted if "there were" is inverted to "were there": Were there any strawberries, I would have eaten them. This is an alternate form of the second conditional.
- If there were any strawberries, I would have eaten them .
- The "if" may be omitted if "there were" is inverted to "were there": Were there any strawberries, I would have eaten them.
- This is an alternate form of the second conditional.
- Likewise, If I were rich, ...
- > Were I rich, ...
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If there were any strawberries, I would have eaten them.
The "if" may be omitted if "there were" is inverted to "were there":
Were there any strawberries, I would have eaten them.
This is an alternate form of the second conditional.
Likewise,
If I were rich, ... > Were I rich, ...
If the managers were smart, ... > Were
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