Question

if i ................... am king i would appoint you as minister​

Answer 1

Answer:

If i were a king i would appoint you as minister.

Answer 2

Answer:

The question has a slight mistake. It may be " If I were a king I would appoint you as minister."

Explanation:

Usage of 'was' and 'were'

• Was and were are the past tense form of be (am, is, are, was, were).
• The usage of 'was' and 'were' depends upon two factors:

1. whether your verb is in first, second, or third person.
2. whether your verb is in past inductive or past subjunctive tense.

• Past inductive indicates ordinary objective statements and questions and past subjunctive indicates hypothetical or imaginary statements and questions.

When to use 'was'?

• Was is used with first person singular (I) and third person singular (he/she/it).

• Examples:

1. I was at the party last night.
2. She was a teacher few years ago.
3. He was sick yesterday.
4. It was raining heavily.

When to use 'were'?

• Were is generally used with third person plural past tense (they and we) and second person past tense (you).
• Examples:

1. They were playing in spite of the rain.
2. We were tensed about the results.
3. You were standing the whole game.

• But, things become slightly confusing when it comes to subjunctive mood.
• The subjunctive mood is the opposite of the inductive, which is unreal.
• When we say about dream and hopes or something that will never come true, it is subjunctive mood.
• The word if is a sign of working in a subjunctive mood. If indicated something hypothetical.
• Example: If I were strong, I could participate in the wrestling competition.
• The question above suggests that it is a subjunctive tense. So we use were.
• If I were a king I would appoint you as minister.