If I were....
There are two songs on the radio that go...
"If I was your boyfriend, I'd never let you go..."
and "if I were a boy..."
Who is right Beyoncé or Justin Bieber?
or both?
1 ACTIVITY.
a. Copy the exercise below in your notebook.
b. Check you know the meaning of these phrasal verbs/ compound verbs.
c. Then, listen to Beyoncé' song and fill the gaps:
Do you know what do these expressions mean?
| chase after girls v expr | informal (try to seduce young women) | |
| (ES)salir a ligar expr |
| throw [sth] on, throw on [sth] vtr phrasal sep | informal, figurative (clothing: put on hastily) ponerse | |
| Me puse la primera camiseta que encontré y salí corriendo para no llegar tarde. | ||
| roll out of bed v expr | recién salido de la cama expr US, Informal (get up from bed) | |
| The professor's hair was always a mess, as if he'd just rolled out of bed. The children normally roll out of bed late on Saturdays. | ||
| El profesor estaba siempre despeinado como si estuviese recién salido de la cama. | ||
d. (OPTIONAL)You can have more practice clicking below if you want:
THEORY:
If...........were ...
In the Present Unreal Conditional, the form "was" is not considered grammatically correct. In written English or in testing situations, you should always use "were." However, in everyday conversation, "was" is often used.
Examples:
- If he were French, he would live in Paris.
- If she were rich, she would buy a yacht.
- I would play basketball if I were taller.
- I would buy that computer if it were cheaper.
- I would buy that computer if it was cheaper. Not Correct (But often said in conversation.)
At school or in grammar books you are normally taught the following rule:
- I / he / she / it - WAS
- We / you / they - WERE
This is correct when we are talking about the PAST TENSE.
BUT there is another situation in which WERE appears that is not the past tense. It also appears in the SUBJUNCTIVE mood.
First, let's look at the following structure and meaning before explaining why it happens...
ADVICE
If I were you ... is used when giving ADVICE about what you would do in the same situation as the other person. You imagine yourself in their position or situation and what you would do or how you would react.
- If I were you, I would study more.
- if I were you, I would make a present to my English teacher Mercedes :)
- If I were you, I wouldn't play with those wires.
Though in informal (and grammatically incorrect) English, you may hear some people say If I was... This usage doesn't sound good, so avoid it.
You can also change the order of the sentence
- I would study more if I were you.
- I would be more careful if I were you.
- I wouldn't do that if I were you.
Notice how the comma is not necessary with this word order.
Can IF I WAS ever be correct?
Yes, though the sentence is not in the Subjunctive mood but the Indicative instead. Note that it is not common to use the indicative mood with IF. Let's compare:
- If I was sick, she would give me medicine that tasted terrible. (indicative = states facts or asks questions - in this case, IF can be replaced by WHENEVER)
- If I were sick, I wouldn't be here. (subjunctive = hypothetical - I am not sick, but I'm imagining that hypothetical situation)
If I was your boyfriend... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, sorry Justin Bieber but this is grammatically incorrect.:)
It should be "If I WERE your boyfriend, I'd never let you go."
Why? Because we are talking about a hypothetical situation of me being your boyfriend. It is not real, it is just a situation I am imagining so we need to use the Subjunctive Mood here.
2 ACTIVITY. As you have already learnt we use this structure to give advice. So, write two or more sentences starting with:
If I were a teacher,.....
If I were the head manager,.....
If I were rich,.....
If I were a superhero, I would be........ because.......
If I were my English teacher,.....
1.
2.
2.
