Write a paragraph on i wish i were depending on the situation
Answers
Answer:
reader wonders whether to use was or were in the following examples:
I wish I were…or…I wish I was…
If only it was…or… If only it were…
What is the rule?
With these examples, the choice is obvous because the words wish and if only make it clear that the speaker is talking about something that is not so. In such a case the subjunctive is called for:
I wish I were…
If only it were…
Sometimes the choice whether to use the subjunctive or the indicative is not so clear. To a large extent, English speakers don’t pay much attention to the subjunctive.
As long ago as 1926 H.W. Fowler called the subjunctive in English “moribund.” He went further and suggested that it never was possible to draw up a consistent table of uses of the subjunctive in English that would correspond to such tables for Latin.
Although the subjunctive is not a big deal in English, some uses of it are still alive and not difficult to master.
Depending on context, the choice between indicative and subjunctive can be as obvious as the examples with “wish” and “if only.”