subjunctive mood

Yes, the sentence is fine.

It could also be 'was' where I've put 'were' in bold because 'was' also is used to describe subjunctive situations.

So you could say either "was" or "were" and both would be correct?

In similar sentences - such as "if he were a bit taller" - I've been told that "was" would be incorrect.

Yes, either would be correct. There are considerations as to level of formality.

In similar sentences - such as "if he were a bit taller" - I've been told that "was" would be incorrect.[/quote]

A lot of people will tell you that, Socynical, but it is false.

There is nothing magical about "subjunctive". It's a term that describes a few left over collocations from older forms of English, one of them being 'were'. But in modern English for every subjunctive form, there is an alternative method of saying the same thing.

If I lived in Mongolia, I would love to try living in a yurt.

For all the lexical verbs like 'live' in the above subjunctive mood example, there is no specific subjunctive form.

The same goes for,

If I had been born as a Mongolian, I may have been brought up in a yurt.

There no specific subjunctive form there but there is subjunctive mood.

As for, "if he were a bit taller", "if he was a bit taller" says the same thing and both are correct. Again, there are considerations as to level of formality.

Perfectly good.

Thanks! Very succinct explanation. "Was" in that sentence still sounds weird to me, though. I'll just continue using "were" in that case.

I assume that you are a native English speaker, Socyn. The problem is that you are looking at this with a jaundiced eye. Just forget the silly rules you've been exposed to. You've got a natural grammar in your brain that will let you know what to pick.