if i was vs if i were :

if i was or if i were

The subjunctive mood, always weak in English, has been dwindling awayfor centuries until it has almost vanished. According to traditionalthought, statements about the conditional future such as “If I were acarpenter . . .” require the subjunctive “were”; but “was” is certainlymuch more common. Still, if you want to impress those in the know withyour usage, use “were” when writing of something hypothetical, unlikely, or contrary to fact. The same goes for other pronouns: “you,” “she,”“he,” and “it.” In the case of the plural pronouns “we” and “they” theform “was” is definitely nonstandard, of course, because it is a singular form.

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