1. He looked at her as if she WAS crazy (or WERE crazy)?
2. He wish it WAS him (or WERE him) in bed sick instead of her.
2007-10-18 04:06:23 · 7 answers · asked by the_ivy_vine 5 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
He looked at her as if she were crazy.
He wished it were he in bed sick instead of her.
Both are statements contrary to fact - hypotheticals, if you will. Both take the subjunctive.
Probably more comment about the '..he in bed...' Sounds funny, but it's really the technically correct word to use. All forms of 'to be' take the nominative as subject and as predicate nominative - including the 'were' of the subjunctive.
It = subject, nominative
he = predicate nominative.
2007-10-20 07:58:28 · answer #1 · answered by dollhaus 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1.He looked at her as if she were crazy.
2. He wishes it were him in bed sick instead of her.
2007-10-18 11:14:14 · answer #2 · answered by cidyah 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
1.He looked at her as if she were crazy. 2.He wished it were him in bed sick instead of her.
2007-10-18 11:36:39 · answer #3 · answered by schnoop16 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1. He looked at her as if she WAS crazy.
2. He wish it WAS him in bed sick instead of her.
2007-10-18 11:11:59 · answer #4 · answered by Miss M ♥ 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
1. He looked at her as if she were crazy.
2. He wished it was him in bed sick instead of her.
2007-10-18 11:12:08 · answer #5 · answered by aguilar_laurita 4 · 0⤊ 3⤋
"were" is used for hypotheticals, so in both cases it would be "were" since she is NOT actually crazy and he is NOT actually the one sick in bed.
"The mood of the verb to be, when you use the phrase I were, is called the subjunctive mood.
Hundreds of years ago subjunctive verbs were pretty common, but in modern English their use is rare, with I were being one of the few examples left that doesn't sound completely archaic to our ears.
A subjunctive verb is used to communicate feelings such as wishfulness or imagination; things that aren't real or true. For example, in the song “If I Were A Rich Man” Tevye is fantasizing about all the things he would do if he were rich. He's not rich, he's just imagining, so if I were is the correct statement. I were often follows the word if, because if usually means you are wishing or imagining.
Note that the subjunctive verb is often followed by a statement using wishful words like would or could."
2007-10-18 11:12:52 · answer #6 · answered by jurydoc 7 · 2⤊ 2⤋
He looked at her as if she was crazy ( we are speaking of one person hence the singular verb - was)
He wish it was him....(the subject 'he" is singular hence a singular verb "was)
2007-10-22 11:09:52 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋