was/were

[Anonymous]

I know that was is used for singular nouns and were is for plural, but what if you're using a singular noun in the past perfect tense? In the following sentence, which would be correct, was or were?

If only choosing a career were that clear-cut!

Thank you!

Teena

 

[Tdol]

They are both correct- many use 'was' because it is singular, but other, more formally, use the past subjunctive, 'were'. ;-)

 

[RonBee]

I would say "if only it was that clear cut", as that seems more natural to me, but I guess Tdol is right.

• Subjunctive
  https://www.usingenglish.com/glossary/subjunctive.html
  http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?refid=1861716478
  http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=79359&dict=CALD
  http://www.bartleby.com/61/28/S0842800.html