Quote:
Originally Posted by Baraka_Guru
I see this error quite a bit. It's common, so don't feel so bad if you do it all the time.
When speaking about a hypothetical situation, it's easy to use the wrong form of be:
"If it was my idea, I would have made it a reality by now."
In this sentence, the speaker is speaking hypothetically. Perhaps they are speculating on how they would have handled a situation differently from someone else.
The sentence may look correct, but it should be as follows:
"If it were my idea, I would have made it a reality by now."
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This is one of the things that students often are taught by rote, without context.
They will be told that "If I" MUST be followed by "were" because the "If" automatically makes it a conditional sentence.
Hence, "If I were not here, I couldn't be talking to you." That is grammatically correct.
But one can say, in an indicative mood, "If I was in Los Angeles, then I was not in New York." This is also grammatically correct, but you would be amazed how many people will correct you to say "If you WERE in Los Angeles".
I skimmed the thread, and didn't see my pet peeve, the proper use of pronouns in compound subjects/objects.
"John and I went to the store." is correct.
"The clerk gave the change to John and me." is also correct.
The trick to knowing when to use "and I" versus "and me" is simply to remove the other parties from the compound subject/obect. You would say "I went to the store.", so it's "John and I". The clerk gave me the change, so it's "to John and me".
Probably the first thing a grammaticist learns, but it's amazing how many of the general population never do.