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would it be correct to say,' If Microsoft were hiring...' or 'If Microsoft was hiring...'
would it be correct to say,' If Microsoft were hiring...' or 'If Microsoft was hiring...'
If the speaker knows that Microsoft was hiring, why does he use the word "if"?Let's say Microsoft really was hiring: If Microsoft was hiring, then he got the job. A real situation with a logical outcome.
Besides the two point above, another option to consider isLet's say Microsoft really was hiring: If Microsoft was hiring, then he got the job. A real situation with a logical outcome.
Let's say Microsoft is NOT actually hiring, but you are speculating on what would happen if they were: If Microsoft were hiring, then you would be a could candidate.
would it be correct to say,' If Microsoft were hiring...' or 'If Microsoft was hiring...'
I respectfully disagree.
The subjunctive were is used when it is an unreal condition, not when you don't know.
Assume you don't know if Microsoft was hiring. You use the "if it was" version.
(In my opinion, when Americans use the "If I was" for an unreal condition, they are not using the subjunctive with was; they don't understand the subjunctive. It's acceptable in informal speech because so many people simply don't know this rule; it's not a deliberate decision. I have no statistical study to back up this feeling. It's just my gut.)
I intended to say "I have heard that many native speakers ... "I have heard many native speakers incorrectly use "was" here, and in AmE it is considerable acceptable in informal English.
What exactly do you disagree?
By the way, while rereading my own post, I think I wrote a sentence somewhat ambiguous :
I intended to say "I have heard that many native speakers ... "
That is, I was taught that many American speakers use it like that and that it is acceptable in informal AmE.
Of course I am not the one to correct any supposed native speaker mistake, rather I am the one to learn from their all kinds of speaking.
I think I'll get some sleep now. It is late and it is always difficult to think in conditionals and subjunctive mood for me.
This never would have happened, if Marge Simpson was here.
I believe this sentence is right
(It's normal past.)
Cheers!
Do you mean "... if Marge Simpson had been here"?. If so, I would say that too.Did it actually happen? If so, I'd say "... if Marge Simpson has been here."
This never would have happened, if Marge Simpson was here.
I believe this sentence is right
(It's normal past.)
Cheers!
I didn't say it was right. I said I wouldn't call it wrong.I still do not understand why this sentence is correct (according to Raymott above it is).
I didn't say it was right. I said I wouldn't call it wrong.
There is no certainty for descriptivists in the use of the subjunctive these days.
Some sentences are obviously wrong, some are obviously right, and others depend on your sensitivities.
would it be correct to say,' If Microsoft were hiring...' or 'If Microsoft was hiring...'