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Tkacka15 Posted 7 years ago
Grammar

Were to be given

There could be a big surprise if one of these schemes were to be given major backing.

There could be a big surprise if one of these schemes was to be given major backing.

Are sentences above grammatical? And if so, is "were" a subjunctive one in There could be a big surprise if one of these schemes were to be given major backing?

  

Top answer

tkacka15 Are sentences above grammatical? Yes, but the version with 'were' is the recommended one in grammar books. tkacka15 is "were" a subjunctive Yes, in traditional terminology.

  • tkacka15 Are sentences above grammatical?
  • Yes, but the version with 'were' is the recommended one in grammar books.
  • tkacka15 is "were" a subjunctive Yes, in traditional terminology.
  • More recently the term 'irrealis' has been used for 'were' in that context.
  • Note that 'were to' is an alternate form for the if -clause of a second conditional.
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1 Answers
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tkacka15Are sentences above grammatical?

Yes, but the version with 'were' is the recommended one in grammar books.

tkacka15is "were" a subjunctive

Yes, in traditional terminology. More recently the term 'irrealis' has been used for 'were' in that context.


Note that 'were to' is an alternate form for the

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