Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Subjunctive Mood in Second Conditional - Inversion



The sentence





If I were you, I wouldn't do this




One can add emphasis to the sentence, by saying




Were I you, I wouldn't do this





However, I noticed that in everyday English people tend not to use the subjunctive mood, but standard Simple Past tense.




If I was you, I wouldn't do this.




So, is it possible to say




Was I you, I wouldn't do this?





It looks a little bit strange for me.


Answer



If I was you, I wouldn't do this.



While many nuances of the subjunctive mood has now been abandoned, such as "If that's the house you were hoping to buy ...", I would suggest that If I was you ... is still irregular, and sounds odd, and many people would still use "were".



But whatever the state of subjunctive "were", if you do wish to invert it, then Were I you is the correct usage, if somewhat stilted.


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