MrPedantic  +  308551 Fri, 29 Dec 06 07:40 PM This sentence turned up on another forum: 1. Well, if I ___ there when the MD took off her knickers, I don't remember any of it. What should fill the blank: "was" or "were"? My money's on "was": "if" here means "accepting the fact that"; it doesn't present the cause or condition of the consequent clause. Other native speakers accepted "were", however, which sounds very strange to me. What do you think? MrP MrPedantic Joined on Tue, Oct 12 2004 Veteran Member 12,592 ...opella forensis / adducit febris... Subjunctives, Clauses

	Marvin A.  +  308570 Fri, 29 Dec 06 08:42 PM In my dialect, it's always "were".  Anytime there's an "If I" + the verb "to be" it's gonna be "were" no matter what follows.  I heard that usage was dying out in British English?  Is that true?  To me, "If I was" sounds quite incorrect. Marvin A. Joined on Fri, Dec 8 2006 Regular Member 638 Verbs, Subjunctives, Dialects, British English

	MrPedantic  +  308573 Fri, 29 Dec 06 08:50 PM Thanks very much, Marvin! The past subjunctive is still common in BrE where the condition is open, e.g. 1. If I were you, I'd buy a different hat. 2. If that were the case, we would all need to do X. The past indicative is always used however where the fact in the if-clause is accepted as true, e.g. 3. If that was a little green man in that Mercedes, we'd better follow him and get a photograph. (What would you say for #3, out of interest?) MrP MrPedantic Subjunctives, Clauses

	Cool Breeze  +  314607 Fri, 12 Jan 07 10:59 PM  MrPedantic wrote: 1. Well, if I ___ there when the MD took off her knickers, I don't remember any of it. What should fill the blank: "was" or "were"? Hi MrP Were is incorrect. Cheers CB Cool Breeze Joined on Fri, Apr 7 2006 Senior Member 3,978 "I hope you'll all live to be 150 years old - and the last voice you hear is mine!" Frank Sinatra on stage in Oslo, Norway, 28 September 1991 Subjunctives

	Grammar Geek  +  314671 Sat, 13 Jan 07 02:07 AM Hi Mr. P - Although that first instinct is to jump on "were" with that "if I..." lead-in, I agree that it should be "was" - because it's apparently true, and not contrary to fact. Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 19,669 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random! Subjunctives