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hela
Joined: 02 May 2004
Posts: 420
Location: Tunisia
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 Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 11:58 am Post subject: subjunctive |
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Dear teachers,
Should it be WAS or WERE here? Would you please tell me why?
John was so angry at the meeting that his head looked as if it WAS / WERE (?) about to pop.
Many thanks,
Hela |
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Harmony
Joined: 23 Mar 2006
Posts: 140
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| Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 4:18 pm Post subject: Re: subjunctive |
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| hela wrote: |
Dear teachers,
Should it be WAS or WERE here? Would you please tell me why?
John was so angry at the meeting that his head looked as if it WAS / WERE (?) about to pop.
Many thanks,
Hela |
Hi Hela,
It should be "were" for tests or formal use. "Was" is accepted for informal use. (I can give references for this if you really need them.)
"As if" suggests the subjunctive and heads don't pop so the speaker can only imagine what a head that's about to pop might look like.
~ ~ ~ Harmony  |
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