How To Use Was And Were

Chances are, you're familiar with one difference between was and were : that was is the first and 3rd-person atypical past tense of the verb to be , while were is the second-person singular past and plural past of to be . Simply what about when you're talking about hypotheticals—for instance, in a sentence like "If I was/were a canis familiaris . . ."? What'southward the correct selection?

In these cases, the key to understanding when to use was or were in a sentence is determining whether yous need to use the subjunctive mood or not. A verb is in the subjunctive mood if it expresses an action or country that is not reality. For example, it might be hypothetical, wished for, or conditional.

"Was" and "were" equally past and subjunctive verb tenses

To ameliorate meet what we are up confronting when deciding when to use was or were , let's compare the by and subjunctive conjugations of to be side by side.

Our nautical chart reveals something delightful. You tin't go incorrect choosingwere with the second person (you), the first person plural (nosotros), the second person plural (y'all), or the third person plural (they). Nosotros only need to make a choice about when to usewas orwere with the kickoff person singular (I) and the 3rd person singular (he, she, or it). Isn't that great news?

Is information technology "if I was" or "if I were"?

Utilizewere if the land of being you lot are describing is in no way the current reality. This is true whenever a hypothetical situation is expressed, for example.

The first sentence can exist described equally an unreal provisional clause. These hypotheticals are easy to spot because they are often introduced by anif and are related to some other clause containing awould orcould.

Some other blazon of unreal provisional sentence that uses the same construction enervating the subjunctivewere is the incommunicable or improbable type.

Hither the speaker implies that the puzzle is unsolvable. Therefore, solving the puzzle is not a likely reality, and the subjunctivewere is used instead of the past tensewas.

That does non hateful that every clause beginning withif I requires the use ofif I was rather thanif I were.

In this sentence, the speaker acknowledges that it is possible he or she may have incorrectly thought that Felicity loves puppies and has given her a puppy in mistake. The fact that it is possible the speaker is describing reality makes this an indicative sentence, non a subjunctive one. Therefore, we applywas instead ofwere.

Utilise "were," not "was," for wishful thinking

A certain sign that you should employ the subjunctive is when the wordwish is used. A wish is the desire or hope for something that cannot or probably will not happen.

Hither's a tip: These phrases arenever correct:I wish I was, I wish it was, he wishes he was, she wishes she was.

Ever recall this rule about theusage ofwas andwere : Usewere with expressions that are hypothetical, wishful, imagined, desired, hundred-to-one, and otherwise contrary to fact—that is to say, not real.