was or were ???? if I was, if I were?? Help with my English language!!?

Question

I've read: if I WERE you I didn't do that .... and then if I WAS a poet all my love in burning words ... (midge ure's song)
was or were ??? which one is correct ?? .. both ? when sould I use was" and when were?? always talking about the first person: I
if I were a poet = if I was a poet ??
thanks for all of your answers!! I'm finally clearing my long time English doubts!

Answer 1

using "were" with "I" is subjective... it's like using "may/might" instead of saying "I will do it" you would say "I may/might do it."

Answer 2

They're both OK. "Were" is subjunctive, but that is falling out of use in English so it's all right to use was.

Some say that "were" is only used when the statement is impossible. "If I were you" - you're never going to be me. "If I was a poet" - it's possible you could become a poet.

Answer 3

Its if i were a poet, used like that it would always be were , was would only be used in say . I was going to school but then the bus broke down...

Answer 4

With 'if' it's 'were'. It is the subjunctive mood as opposed to the indicative mood which uses 'was.' eg:
If I were a rich man.
I was a rich man once.
If I were a poet.
I was a poet when I was young.

There's a little ditty which was popular a few years back though not grammatically correct:
"I wish I was, I wish I were...between two legs...and a bunch of hair." ('were' to rhyme with 'hair')

Answer 5

If I were you, I wouldn't do that. is Correct
In poetry words are written weird so however you want while composing poetry is fine.
I love Midge Ure and Ultravox by the way.
I know it has some requirements of the word before it.

Answer 6

It's the subjunctive mood, and it should be, "if I were a poet," or a rich man for that matter.

Answer 7

it is right to say I WAS
but if you have seen somewhere:
IF I WERE YOU i didn't...
it just meant that the sentence was written in so called CONDITIONAL from. Use English grammar and find the chapter CONDITIONAL.
There they will explain much better than I could. I'm just a bloody foreigner.

Answer 8

It's "If I were a poet" , it's the subjunctive mood (conditional)

Answer 9

in the phrase "if i were" it is always correct to use "were" because it is subjective (conditional in the past) so this song lyric is technically wrong, however in modern spoken english, "if i was" is often accepted, even though technically it is incorrect.

was should only be used when something in the past definately happenned. e.g. "I was there"

Answer 10

"If I were a poet" is correct, but "If I was a poet" is more or less ok now

Answer 11

Correctly it should be:

I was a poet; but

If I were a poet

BTW "If I were" is conditional so it should read "If I were you I *wouldn't* do that", not "didn't"