Using "was" and "were"

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Guest

#7014 Thu, 04 Sep 03 10:33 PM

sentence example:

"parents wish their daughter were"

or

"parents wish their daughter was"

what is correct?

Guest

Ryan

#7063 Fri, 05 Sep 03 09:38 AM

'parents wish their daughter was' - this is correct.
The word 'was' refers to 'one daughter'.

Or you can change it to - 'parents wish their daughters were'.

Ryan

Ryan

Joined on Sat, Aug 23 2003

New Member (33)

Pemmican

#7099 Fri, 05 Sep 03 02:37 PM

Both are correct!

The form "were" is the rest of the extinct subjunctive modus of the verb "to be".
It is used in sentences that express a wish that cannot be fulfilled e.g. the one you mentioned above.

Only "to be" kept these subjunctive forms in the 1st and 3rd person singular:
I were, he were
all the other verbs stick to their past tense forms.
Also "were" in these cases can be replaced by their regular past tense form "was".

Pemmican

Joined on Thu, Aug 21 2003

Westphalia, Germany

Regular Member (569)

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Past tenses, Subjunctives, Tenses, Verbs

moijelesuis

#7280 Sun, 07 Sep 03 07:27 AM

WERE is correct... as pemmican explains, the subjunctive is required, because regret of an unfulfilled wish is expressed.

(and regardless of whether you are referring to one or more than one daughters, "were" is appropriate)

moijelesuis

Joined on Sat, Aug 16 2003

usa/canada

Full Member (116)

Subjunctives

Ryan

#7308 Sun, 07 Sep 03 03:07 PM

I stand corrected - the subjuctive is needed. Please ignore my earlier mail. We are talking about an unfulfilled wish here.

Ryan

Ryan

Anonymous

#525087 Mon, 09 Jun 08 07:20 PM

I am a year 5 teacher and really struggling with was and were for the following. Please can you help?If I were the head master/mistressIf I was the head master/mistress)...I would teach 'was' as 'I' is singular but does the unfulfilled wish come in to it? Are both correct?Many, many thanks for any help you can offer

Sharon Taylor