If you were a billionaire, what would you do? In addition to being a fun situation to think about, this question brings up some grammatical confusion. Is the correct response \u201cIf I was a billionaire\u201d or \u201cIf I were a billionaire\u201c, and why?<\/p>\n

English is a famously difficult language to learn, and one of the trickier aspects of English is how to use the verb \u201cto be\u201d correctly.<\/p>\n

Whether discussing the past, present, or future, proper conjugation of \u201cto be\u201d changes depending on the subject. But verb tenses and subject-verb agreement aren\u2019t the only factors that impact how we should conjugate \u201cto be\u201d and other verbs.<\/p>\n

Grammatical moods also influence proper conjugation, confusing both native and non-native speakers alike about the difference between was and were and which is correct. So what are grammatical moods, and how can you make sure to correctly use \u201cwas\u201d vs. \u201cwere\u201d? Let\u2019s look at the difference between was and were below.<\/p>\n

Table of Contents<\/p>\n

Table of Content:<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li>

Was vs. Were<\/a>

Using Was vs. Were Correctly Every Time<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n

<\/span>Table of Content:<\/span><\/h4>\n
\n
Difference Between Was vs Were<\/a><\/li>\n
What are Grammatical Moods?<\/a><\/li>\n
Conjugating Was vs. Were in Different Grammatical Moods<\/a><\/li>\n
When to use Was and Were<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n
<\/span>Was vs. Were<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n
Was<\/em> and were<\/em> are both past tense forms of the verb \u201cto be.\u201d Whether you should use was<\/em> or were<\/em> depends on a couple of things. These are:<\/p>\n
\n
Whether you are speaking in first (I), second (you), or third (he\/she\/it) person<\/li>\n
Whether your subject is singular or plural<\/li>\n
Which grammatical mood you are using (indicative, subjunctive, or imperative)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
We\u2019ll talk a little more about grammatical moods below, but first, let\u2019s review the basic conjugation of the verb \u201cto be\u201d in the past tense.<\/p>\n
\n
I was<\/li>\n
You were<\/li>\n
He\/she\/it was<\/li>\n
We were<\/li>\n
You were<\/li>\n
They were<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
You\u2019ve probably learned these as the rule. But actually, there are some exceptions where \u201cI were\u201d is correct. These exceptions relate to what is called grammatical mood.<\/p>\n
<\/span>What are Grammatical Moods?<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
The phrase grammatical moods itself can be a little confusing. We usually think of moods as feelings. But grammatical moods don\u2019t express a type of feeling.<\/p>\n
Actually, grammatical moods just tell us what type of statement a sentence is making. We use the subjunctive mood to express wishes, imaginary situations, hypotheticals, or possibilities.<\/p>\n
Contrast this with the indicative mood, in which we simply make statements, and the imperative mood, where we give commands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Indicative<\/strong><\/td>\n Subjunctive<\/strong><\/td>\n Imperative<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Statements<\/td>\n Wishes, imaginary situations, hypotheticals, possibility<\/td>\n Commands<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
What does this actually look like? Let\u2019s imagine a criminal interrogation. A bag of gold has been stolen, and the detective investigating the case has arrested a suspect. The detective will use the indicative mood to ask, \u201cwhere were you when the bags full of gold were stolen?\u201d.<\/p>\n
If our suspect denies committing the crime, they could respond in the indicative, offering an alibi like \u201cI was with my parents watching a movie at the discount theatre\u201d or \u201cI was at home washing my hair.\u201d<\/p>\n
But our suspect could also use the subjunctive mood to provide additional reasons as potential proof of innocence. Our suspect might say, \u201cbut officer, if I were the thief, I would have fancier clothes,\u201d or \u201cif I were the criminal, I wouldn\u2019t live in such a small house in a bad part of town.\u201d<\/p>\n
They might say, \u201cif you weren\u2019t interrogating me as if I were a criminal, you could have caught the thief by now.\u201d<\/p>\n
If the detective doesn\u2019t believe the suspect, well, the suspect is likely to become desperate and start using the imperative mood. \u201cLet me go now!\u201d he demands. \u201cGive me the phone so I can call my lawyer!\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/span>Conjugating Was vs. Were in Different Grammatical Moods<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
In the indicative mood, the verb \u201cto be\u201d is simple to conjugate. As we saw in our examples above, in the indicative mood, the detective asks, \u201cwhat were you doing,\u201d and the suspect replies \u201cI was at home washing my hair.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, when we speak in the subjunctive mood, we should always use \u201cwere\u201d in the past, no matter our subject. \u201cI were\u201d and \u201cit were\u201d sounds a bit odd at first glance, but when you consider the subjunctive mood includes a conditional \u201cif,\u201d \u201cthough,\u201d or \u201cas if\u201d it sounds more natural. Let\u2019s look at a few examples:<\/p>\n
\n
If she were<\/em> my wife, I would never look at another woman. (She is not my wife)<\/li>\n
He spoke to me as if I were<\/em> a child. (I am not a child)<\/li>\n
My sister spends money as though she were<\/em> rich, so she is in a lot of debt. (My sister is not rich)<\/li>\n
If you were<\/em> 230 cm tall, you could be a famous basketball player. (You are shorter than 230 cm)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
An easy way to remember whether you should use was vs. were is to consider whether the situation is real or not real. In the examples above, note that she is not my wife, I am not a child, my sister is not rich, and you are not 230 cm tall. When the situation being discussed is not true, we use the subjunctive mood and the verb form \u201cwere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Indicative<\/strong><\/td>\n Subjunctive<\/strong><\/td>\n Imperative<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Statements<\/td>\n Wishes, imaginary situations, hypotheticals, possibility<\/td>\n Commands<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
I was<\/p>\n
You were<\/p>\n
He, she, it was<\/p>\n
We were<\/p>\n
You were<\/p>\n
They were<\/td>\n
I were<\/p>\n
You were<\/p>\n
He, she, it, were<\/p>\n
We were<\/p>\n
You were<\/p>\n
They were<\/td>\n
Be<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
<\/span>Using Was vs. Were Correctly Every Time<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
Now that you know the difference between was vs. were, and have learned about the subjunctive mood, you don\u2019t need to think to yourself \u201cif I were better at English, I would never be confused about the difference between was vs. were.\u201d<\/p>\n
You\u2019re sure to apply the correct past form of \u201cto be\u201d when you\u2019re speaking in the subjunctive. If you\u2019re still confused though, you can always use the help of an AI writing tool like Trinka<\/a>, which checks your grammar, spelling, style, and more to ensure no confusion between \u201cwas\u201d and \u201cwere.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Confused about when to use ‘was’ and ‘were’? Discover the grammatical rules and examples that distinguish these two past tense forms in English. Learn more here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2646,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[175],"tags":[176],"acf":[],"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/www.trinka.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/was-vs-were.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinka.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2641"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinka.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinka.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinka.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinka.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2641"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinka.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2641\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2725,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinka.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2641\/revisions\/2725"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinka.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinka.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinka.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinka.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}