Was or Were

No, "were" is, because it is conditional. For instance, you would say,

"If I were king".

"He was the king in the 17th century".



http://www.bartleby.com/64/C001/061.html

I find that "was" or were", for me, is one of the most difficult grammar constructions with which I am faced. I would like a dollar for every time I have edited a "was" to a "were" on A2K.

Thank you Phoenix! I weren't sure so I thought I'd ask. :wink:

:wink:

Ha, I always wondered about that too.
Only if it's conditional than you use "were" - that's good
to remember.

Now what's the formula for "these" and "those"?

"These" are the ones close by. "Those" are the ones over there.

Conditional is not the criteria, conditional + hypothetical is the criteria.

Consider:

"If I was rude to you I apologize." = real possibility

"If I were a woman I would have breastacles." = hypothetical

Oh, now I get it. Thank you Craven and Noddy!

Craven's explanation is correct and describes the reason for many errors. An example I like to use:
"If John were there he would have passed the information to James"
(John wasn't there so James didn't get the information.)

"If John was there he passed the information to James."
(We don't know whether or not John was there, so we don't know whether or not James received the information.)

It's not a conditional, it's subjunctive.

Conditional: "I would collect fines"
Subjunctive: "If I were to collect fines" or "Were I to collect fines"

The conditional is almost always found in tandem with the subjunctive:
Example: "If I were the king of the forest (subjunctive) I would be brave (conditional)."

It get's confusing, doesn't it

either was-were for counterfactuals

As Craven correctly notes, sometimes using <was> with <if> creates a meaning that points to a real possibility. But it may well still be hypothetical.

"If I was rude to you" CAN = in the speaker's mind,

I was rude to you OR
I expect I was rude to you OR
I probably was rude to you OR
I may have been rude to you OR
I might have been rude to you

All it's saying, [even where the speaker believes he/she was rude] is, "under the condition that I was rude, something follows"; in this case it's "I apologise".

HOWEVER, the vast majority of uses are counterfactual ones because most often, <if S was ...> refers to the identical counterfactual situation that would be meant by <if S were ...>.