I Were....

[otherstuff1957]

One of my students recently asked me if he could use "I were..." in a sentence. I very confidently told him no. Then he showed me a sentence that used "I were" that really had me thinking!

What would you have said? Can any of you think of a sentence where "I were..." could be used correctly? I'll post his "I were" sentence and some info about it later!

[withnail]

After if and wish:

If I were you.......

If I weren't so fat I could.........

I wish John were .......

or as if

You talk about him as if he were stupid.

Neither examples are necessary however and the first is the only one your student is likely to come across unless he is quite advanced. I'd just say that it's best not to worry about it and use was as it's quite formal anyway.

[withnail]

Unless you come from the North of England in which case people use it incorrectly instead of was all the time.

Edited April 20, 2005 by withnail

[suegha]

I wish I were clever, for if I were, I may be able to give a more definitive answer.

เสือ

[the scouser]

Hi Otherstuff,

I + were in English constitutes the subjunctive case which is used to express future proposals:-

1. Were I rich, I would buy a Rolls Royce.

2. If you were to knee my in the <deleted>, I'm sure it would hurt.

It can also be constructed using the infinitive:-

1. Whether he be innocent or guilty, he deserves a fair trial

Cheers,

Scouse.

[brianbrain]

It's quite correct to use "I were..." in certain situations.

If I were you, I'd take a look at the following:

http://www.getitwriteonline.com/archive/073001.htm

Examine the verbs in each of the following sentences:

1. If Harrison were chosen to be the next chief executive officer of the corporation, several controversial hiring practices would change.

2. If I were you, I would increase my weekly contribution to the company-sponsored retirement fund.

3. I wish that his report were longer.

4. We recommend that the trip be postponed because of violence in the region.

5. The finance department requests that he submit updated budget projections each month.

All the above sentences are correct.

Two terms apply to the mood of English verbs: indicative and subjunctive. An indicative verb makes a statement that is factual, whereas a verb in the subjunctive mood is used to indicate a situation or condition that is hypothetical, doubtful, or conditional.

In the indicative mood, we would never write "Harrison were," "I were," "report were," "trip be," or "he submit," but these verbs are correct in the examples above because each of the sentences is written in the subjunctive mood; that is, in every case, the sentence is describing a situation that is hypothetical or conditional:

1. Harrison is not now the C.E.O., but hypothetically he could be chosen for that position. The conditional nature of the position is suggested by the word if.

2. Again, as the word if makes clear, I am not, in fact, you. So once again the situation is hypothetical and conditional: I would save more only under the condition that I became you.

3. His report is not, in fact, longer, so the sentence speaks of a hypothetical situation.

4. The trip is not currently postponed, so the subjunctive mood is appropriate to suggest a possibility, not an actuality.

5. He is not currently submitting reports monthly, so we use the subjunctive mood to discuss the possibility--not the actuality--of his doing so.

[brianbrain]

And let's not forget...

"Dear God, you made many, many poor people.

I realize, of course, that it's no shame to be poor.

But it's no great honor either!

So, what would have been so terrible if I had a small fortune?"

If I were a rich man,

Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum.

All day long I'd biddy biddy bum.

If I were a wealthy man.

I wouldn't have to work hard.

Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum.

If I were a biddy biddy rich,

Yidle-diddle-didle-didle man.

I'd build a big tall house with rooms by the dozen,

Right in the middle of the town.

A fine tin roof with real wooden floors below.

There would be one long staircase just going up,

And one even longer coming down,

And one more leading nowhere, just for show.

I'd fill my yard with chicks and turkeys and geese and ducks

For the town to see and hear.

And each loud "cheep" and "swaqwk" and "honk" and "quack"

Would land like a trumpet on the ear,

As if to say "Here lives a wealthy man."

[Ajarn]

One of my students recently asked me if he could use "I were..." in a sentence.  I very confidently told him no.  Then he showed me a sentence that used "I were" that really had me thinking! 

What would you have said?  Can any of you think of a sentence where "I were..." could be used correctly?  I'll post his "I were" sentence and some info about it later! 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Next time, ask, " What do you think?" first... When he shows it to you in the book, go with the book

I've been caught out by students my fair share of times in the past, too.

[otherstuff1957]

"If I were you and you were me" was the sentence my student asked me about. As soon as he said that I had to do some quick thinking . As all of you have pointed out "I were" is used in the subjunctive tense to describe conditions that are impossible or very improbable.

Occasionally students will pose a question that I really have to think about. After spending hours correcting articles, prepositions and final consonants, it's nice to be challenged with something different.

[Kringle]

Couldn't see it as being a problem unless he was trying to say "I were" something. Have to use something in front of "I were" to use it properly. "I was" can be used without anything in front. Simple isn't it!?

[PeaceBlondie]

At least in contemporary American English, even among people with decent earned degrees, about the only time they use the subjunctive is for such impossibilities as, "If I were you," or "If I were King of the USA."

I think Thai teachers of English teach the subjunctive mood as one of the conditionals, and the other forms of conditional usage are far more common, such as "I wouldn't have done that."

As someone has pointed out, when you're not sure of a question, ask another one yourself, to clarify the issue. And if the original question contains 'always,' 'ever' or 'never,' there's almost surely an exception.

Edited April 20, 2005 by PeaceBlondie