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Yes, it's pretty bad when your own dog won't eat your homework.
Just take a breathe and keep calm your going two bee find.
This kinda stuff drives me absolutely batsh!t.
Keep com?Just take a breathe and keep calm your going two bee find.
^
Was: first person introspective.
Were: Talkin' 'bout sumbuddy else, Willis.
I've found this at TheFreeDictionary.com (which is correct ? was vs. were. - English Grammar - English - The Free Dictionary Language Forums).I don't get it either, the whole ”was or were” thing. Despite English not being my first language I thought I had a fairly good grip on things, but I honestly don't understand the distinction. Let me take an example from the book I am currently reading, The Killer Next Door by Alex Marwood. On page 141 you can read the following sentences:
”’F**k,’ she says. ’That was close’”
and,
”That would have been a broken hip and an ambulance, if it were me”.
I have no problem with the first sentence and the use of was. But the second one eludes me. I have been taught (or at least that is the way I remember it) that: I and it = was, they = were.
If anybody could help me with the rules regarding this I would be delighted.
Thanks blunthead!
We have a thread for this. Can someone point me to it and I will merge this post with it. I can't remember what it was called.Maybe this deserves its own thread, but I like it here:
The latest edition of Black's Law Dictionary has seven thousand five hundred (7,500) new terms. Among them:
intrapreneur
An employee for a large company whose job is to develop innovative ideas or ways of doing business for that company.
gazumping
The improper sale of a house, usu. by raising the price and selling to a different buyer after accepting an earlier offer.
affluenza defense
A newfangled legal defense, generally not recognized, that a youthful offender cannot be held responsible for criminal acts because the wealthy environment in which he or she has reared precluded any learning about right vs. wrong.
one-bite rule
1) The principle that a person or entity gets only one chance to assert the same rights or bring the same claims. — Also termed one-bite-at-the-apple rule. (See res judicata.)
2) A common-law rule or statutory provision holding a dog-owner responsible for any harm or injury caused by the dog only if the owner knows or has reason to know that the dog is dangerous.
This is a cool thread. I didn't read all the way through it, so if this has been asked before, sorry.
What defines the proper use of "if I were" and "if I was?" I always assumed "if I were" refers to something hypothetical, and "if I was" refers to something that could have been true. But I've seen instances where that doesn't seem to be the case. Any advice would be great.
"Exceptions"?"Was" (should) is always singular and past tense.
"Were" (should) always be plural and usually potential. Many acceptions though in common vernacular.
One of my favorites is hanged versus hung. I can't STAND it when they say "He was hung from that tree." Okay. But how did he die? When somebody's dangling dead at the end of a rope, they were hanged.