were and was

[eddy143]

hi teahers, i just came across this sentence and got a big doubt on it and wish to ask why is like this. "I wish the summer were more interesting" why not "I wish the summer was more interesting"


Here is another, "Parks are a good place to go on a sunny day" why not "Parks are good places to go on a sunny day".


thanks very much.

[5jj]

'Were' is a subjunctive form, used when speaking about a hypothetical/counterfactual situation - the summers are, in fact, not more interesting.

Many speakers, especially of BrE/ are not too particular about the subjunctive; they would use 'was' in this sentence.