by Fatfreek 17 Replies latest jw friends
Both are correct
This is probably beating a dead horse, but "Was" and "Were" both express the imperfect of "To Be" and the table looks like this:
Sing Plur
I was We were
You were YOU were
He, She, It was They were
Numerically, "Was" is appropriate only in the first and third person singular and "Were" is appropriate everywhere else.
However, as it has been pointed out when you are expressing potential action, it is common to use "Were" regardless of number
I think it's just a difference between formal and informal English in everyday language one would say I was, and in the more formal written mode, I were.
Ah the ghostly structure of English grammar (from a French pow of course).
rekles:
ponder this, Was is singular and were is plural; therefore, I was there, and we were there.
Maybe you am right, and maybe you am wrong.
Getting involved, I am not!
Pete. (of the learned his lesson class. Or is it learnt? Damn!)
This, from GrammarStation.com (they let you input a sentence that is up to 25 words in length).
*** Begin GrammarStation
A complex sentence has at least 2 clauses (a main clause; a dependent clause) connected by a 'subordinating conjunction'.
The conjunction 'If' is the 'Condition' subordinator.
The main clause of your sentence 'we could work together' is in the simple past with modality.
Therefore, the possible tense for the subordinating clause is the unreal conditional (hypothetical probability of action).
*** End GrammarStation
There -- I knew they would clear it all up. Oh, and by the way, I entered both sentences and got the same answer from them.
Honestly, I will treasure all your answers far more than that tangled mess of verbiage.
Fats
Where is PMJ when you need him........
Actually, either the singular or plural verb form could be correct depending on the meaning you intend. If you intend to express uncertainty, as in "If I was there [, which I don't remember, but I might have been,] we could [have] work[ed] together [, but I just don't remember]" then you use the singular, was. If you intend to express a condition that doesn't actually exist, as in "If I were there [, but I'm not, I'm here,] we could work together," then you use the plural, were. The "we could work together" in your sentence makes the sentence work only as expressing a condition that doesn't exist, so in this case, the correct sentence is "If I were there we could work together."
