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- When writing about hypothetical or non-realistic situations, the subjunctive “if that were true” is the best choice, while “if that was true” is best for indicative past-tense sentences.
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Oct 3, 2022 · Updated on October 3, 2022 Sentences. The correct choice between was and were in an if clause depends on whether you’re using an unreal conditional sentence, also known as a hypothetical sentence. But how do you know if you’re dealing with an unreal conditional sentence?
- “Was” vs. ”Were” in The Indicative Mood
- “If That Were True” vs. “If That Was True”
- Which Is Correct: “What If I Were Rich” Or “What If I Was Rich?”
- The Subjunctive vs. The Indicative Mood
- The Subjunctive Mood with “Be” and “were”
- Using The Subjunctive Mood with The Conditional
- Final Thoughts
Before discussing the subjunctive mood in detail, let’s first look at the verbs “was” and “were” and their meanings and usage in the indicative. The indicative mood simply expresses a statement of fact (source). The verbs “was” and “were” both come from the verb “to be” and are in the past tense. The difference between the two words in the indicati...
In contrast, the phrase “if that were true” is in the subjunctive mood, which we use to express wishes, desires, doubts, and suggestions or explore a hypothetical situation. The combination of the conjunction “if” and the stative verb “were” are common in the subjunctive mood. 1. If that were true, they would not have made it out alive. 2. They wou...
With an informed understanding of grammatical moods and the use of “was” and “were,” we can now apply the same reasoning as to whether “what if I were rich” or “what if I was rich” is correct. The correct expression is “what if I were rich,” as it expresses the subjunctive mood. As we know, the subjunctive mood expresses desires, wishes, suggestion...
Generally, a mood expresses a feeling such as happiness or sadness. However, grammatical moods are helpful to denote the tone or quality of a verb in a sentence, making the intention of the writer or speaker clear (source).
The subjunctive mood uses “be” or “were” to convey an unreal conditional situation, which can be grammatically complicated. When the subjunctive is in the present tense, the verb “be” remains unchanged according to its subject (source). Regardless of the subject’s perspective, the subjunctive form of the verb “to be” is “be” for the present tense, ...
You will often see a subjunctive verb appear in a sentence with two clauses. Remember, a clause is part of a sentence that contains a subject and verb, expressing a complete thought. When using the subjunctive, one clause typically contains the subjunctive verb and the other the indicative verb. A wish: 1. I wish it werereal. Hypothetical situation...
Grammatical mood can be confusing, but it helps to consider if you’re referring to a hypothetical situation or one that is true or likely to be true. Most of the time, “If that were true” is correct, but it is possible to use “if that was true” in the indicative. “If that were true” is in the subjunctive mood, which we use for hypothetical or non-r...
A clause introduced by if may express a simple condition relating to the past and take the indicative form of the verb. For example, in "If Allan was there, he was drunk," the if clause introduces a supposition, hence a verb in the indicative mood.
Oct 27, 2007 · In general, you use the indicative (is, was, am) if and only if you are indicating that a statement or hypothesis is true, and the subjunctive if you are not making a judgement about a statements truth value, or - by not indicating that it is true - implying that it is not true.
Terry Li. 10.1k 31 75 109. 4. Using "was" instead of "were" in situations like this is incredibly common in current-day English, and should not be considered a grammatical mistake. The various uses of the subjunctive tense are slowly being lost from English, and I expect this will be the next one to go. – Peter Shor. Jan 15, 2014 at 20:11. 3.
In your specific case, neither 'was' nor 'were' is best; you should say "if it is running". "If it were running" is subjunctive case, used to describe hypothetical situations: "If it were running, I would stop it first, but it's already stopped."
Jan 12, 2024 · Stick with weren’t in most cases, but don’t panic if you hear wasn’t used in casual speech. If you’re ever unsure, saying the sentence out loud can help. If it sounds awkward, there’s a good chance you’ve got the wrong verb.
