That has about the same meaning. And BTW I hate that its: You were there.

For the author wants the reader to understand that the narrator thinks it doubtful that Chaundhary would actually jump -- that is, that the possibility of Chaundhary jumping is modally remote. As we’ve observed, this is the easiest of the choices you need to make, but it also gives rise to the problems that so many people have when they begin to use the subjunctive mood. This is a great way to explain the two words. "We're" (rhymes with "fear") is a contraction of "we are." If you grew up speaking English you probably wouldn’t understand this, but trying to learn it as a second language is difficult. Example sentences with the were, a sentence example for were, and How do smaller capacitors filter out higher frequencies than larger values? Best wishes, Clive .

In general, the "BE to Verb" expression when used in a conditional (as in #A), it merely serves to reinforce the remote modality that the writer wants to express in that sentence. The chief subjects of discussion were: the relations of faith and modern thought, the supply and training of the clergy, education, foreign missions, revision and "enrichment" of the Prayer-Book, the relation of the Church to "ministries of healing" (Christian … English, unlike most other languages, is derived from great number of languages – Latin, Greek, French, German, Scandinavian languages, Celtic languages. Why "were to" has been used in above sentence instead of "was to"? No students were absent. If you are assuming “time and day” as a singular event, then it is wasn’t, but if you are assuming time and day as separate pieces of information being given, then it’s weren’t. “Of panels” is just a prepositional phrase, but since panels is a noun and it’s right before the verb it can sometimes throw people (and computers!)

In the sentence: “A selection of panels was checked.” – is the verb used correctly. English Language Learners Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for speakers of other languages learning English. If the “If I…” is because you don’t know the answer, then it’s “was”. I found it clear and concise. The police were suspicious of his movements.

If you find yourself debating whether to use “was” or “were” in a sentence, it’s likely that you’re dealing with an unreal conditional sentence. But that is not the sense of meaning that the author wants to communicate here, even though the reader will probably easily correct themselves as to the desired meaning by the time they've read the whole sentence. Since this sentence is in past-tense narrative mode, the reader, as they are reading, would probably interpret something like: as they imagine the scene unfolding in their imagination. If it sounds correct, then I’m usually right.

(Note that your #B and #C versions don't have the "BE to Verb" in a conditional. If he had not retired, he would have become the boss. I’m just trying to make sure that I understand the difference between these two words correctly so I don’t make any mistakes. The Benedictines, whose order founded the school, They played a version of the total football that the Dutch, In port cities and beach towns on the Indian Ocean, people, She was still whimpering with pain when we arrived but incredibly we, Sample outcome distributions for three key economic indicators, Also, the Indians complained that their villages, The electron micrographs of over 1000 filaments, They planned to consider the matter again as soon as the report was finalised but, His arms remained stretched out above him, his knees, I was moved by the music but make-up, costume and performance, The porpoising type of rolling that is so common seemed to be undertaken by tench that, The severity and frequency of weather conditions, Two cases of impaired intellect by overstudy, When they listened to the national anthem during the ceremony, they, I would have just had a regular burger, but they, An action plan prepared by the health authority had already begun to swing into action and many key changes, At the visitor centre, the comments on the building, Though working overtime the Parkville midfield, His bluntness did not always make him popular, particularly with those he thought, And when the game finally became available over the Internet last year, fans, While the vote is yet to be finalised, if a swing of that order, But he fluffed his shot from close range, the ball then flying through the six-yard box where Speed and Stelios, I was getting swing, because essentially I am a swing bowler, but there, Usually, shared kitchen and lavatory facilities, The Totonac also configured their architecture in such a way that time and space, Initially, the autopsy results indicated that his internal injuries, My understanding of Roman history is that they, The chains that had been holding the seat of the swing up, Eventually their fluff changed to feathers and they, We haven't had much new snow, so the trails, I had to stand on a chair to put up the curtains and they, As the song and the dance went on their hearts, Someone recommended I talk to them because they, But he's a clever Baz, and before too long he understood why we, Although shelters likely altered other, unquantified microenvironmental variables, experimental units, Government departments offered their workers terrible pay offers last year, which, She found they not only lacked any enthusiasm to pursue her case, but, The solid diagonal line represents the situation when the two estimated distributions, Along with other large case pieces, desks-and-bookcases, Each little box and bottle was lidded with silver and tortoiseshell and those same materials, Gold, silver, Boulle marquetry of brass, pewter, porcelain, tortoiseshell, ebony ivory, and rare woods, The checksums are all off, but it's only off a random bit here and there and we, At the time the first touchpaper was scheduled to be lit, cars, Here the King of the Jungle was a giant vegetarian tortoise, and there, In this job-satisfaction study, symphony musicians, Following their cheerleading during impeachment, they, The restaurant manager spoke fluent English and German and all the staff, A number of different sulphones that had activity in experimental animals, Although he sought the overthrow of the US Government, his tactics and power base, They overstayed their three-month holiday visas and after being arrested, The boat overturned, and the people in it, The tortellini of crab and langoustine I started with, It was filled with dangerous chemicals such as tar and nicotine, which.

As a refresher, an unreal conditional sentence expresses events that are hypothetical or improbable. ??

The police were indifferent to the matter. Two seats were vacant. Can verbs/i-adjectives be indefinitely conjugated, or is there a limit? This is a big overreaction to make something more complicated than it should be — the only people who care are teachers so they can keep their jobs. Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers. This is not subjunctive, and it indicates an uncertain past: something that might have happened in the past, or it might not. Stack Exchange network consists of 176 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. It is that mish-mash that has led to entirely different rules grammar than other languages have and to the wonderfully multiple spellings and meanings for words that sound the same such as “to,” “too,” and “two”; “lead” (two meanings) and “led”; and that wonderful catch all word of “fuck” which can be used as a verb, noun, adverb, adjective and God knows what and has so many different meanings, one wonders why it is even considered a “curse” word. He was to come at 5:00 am but the train arrived late. To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.

Where should small utility programs store their preferences? Both the brothers were out. This depends on how you are reading it.

Glad to hear the article could help you understand a bit better. Can someone explain this to me so it makes sense? I really don’t know the rules well, so I always play it by ear.

The man said the set of tires was returned. I think if you read through the comments, you will see a lot of different people have questions about which of these two to use. 35. Several people were standing in front of the notice. It only takes a minute to sign up. Avoiding Wordiness: 330 Examples & What to Use Instead, How to Take Notes: The 10-Step Guide to Note-Taking (Infographic), CMOS vs. AP – Recent Changes & Comparison, The Daily Word Counts of 19 Famous Writers, The Ideal Length of Everything You Write Online ( Infographic), 8 Famous Authors and Their Favorite Writing Spots, 9 Commonly Confused and Often Hysterical Song Lyrics.