i do not understand this grammar rule. isnt someone singular thus was.
2007-10-22 12:01:10 · 9 answers · asked by lildude3216 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
Because "someone" is plural. You aren't speaking of any specific one person but rather a person out of many. The possibility of more than one person is implied, thus making it plural. That's the meaning of the word, basically, "one of some". So the "some" makes it plural.
Hope I explained this well enough for you to understand.
And carly is wrong. In the instance you speak of you are referring to one out of many. In the instance she speaks of she is referring to one unknown person, hence a specific person. In her instance one could say "someones" to imply that more than one person had been at the window. "Someone was at the window." "Someones were at the window."
It has everything to do with context. You specifically asked why it is "If someone were", which I explained why.
2007-10-22 12:05:20 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 5⤋
Was and were are the past tense forms of be, and their agreement in number with their subjects is important. Was is first and third person singular (I was, she was) and were is second person singular and all persons plural (you were, we were, you were, they were).
Indefinite pronouns by definition reference nonspecific things or people. Most of these pronouns take a singular verb, some are always plural, and a few may be either singular or plural. Take a look at the lists below, and you'll notice that most indefinite pronouns are singular.
Singular: another, anybody, anyone, anything, each, either, everybody, everyone, everything, many a, neither, no one, nobody, nothing, one, other, somebody, someone
Plural: both, few, many, others, several
Singular or Plural: all, any, none, some, such
By definition someone is a singular noun, therefore someone was is grammatically correct.
2007-10-22 19:17:19 · answer #2 · answered by yancychipper 6 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Goddess is correct. Someone is singular and the mood is subjunctive. That's the reason for the strange verb conjugation.
2007-10-23 04:36:04 · answer #3 · answered by Idle Chitchat 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Yes, someone is singular.
"If" requires the subjunctive, the mood that expresses what's not true. That's almost always exactly the same as the past tense (if I came. if I knew, if he realized) but for "to be" it's "were" in all persons.
2007-10-22 19:28:00 · answer #4 · answered by Goddess of Grammar 7 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Someone is singular. It literally mean Some ONE person. Take this sentence..
Someone was at the window. You would not say, Someone were at the window."
The problem is the word " if"... for whatever reason, it seems to take the plural verb when it appears.
2007-10-22 19:08:35 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 4⤋
I think I'm in line with the first poster. Someone seems to be plural at times. I think this is because it isn't talking about a specific person, this concept is tricky in English. It's probably just some grammatical monstrosity thrown at us and we just have to accept it.
2007-10-22 19:15:11 · answer #6 · answered by aeseeke 3 · 1⤊ 3⤋
In this case, "were" is correct because you are using the subjunctive mood/mode, speaking hypothetically rather than in fact.
2007-10-22 19:46:01 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
I believe that "someone" is singular. Some ONE. since "one" is singular, then someone is also singular.
Therefore, it's "if someone was". I think.
2007-10-22 19:11:50 · answer #8 · answered by Beth 5 · 1⤊ 4⤋
It is called the subjunctive mood. Whenever a sentence starts with "If," you use the subjunctive mood.
If I were a rich man...
If you were driving...
If he were nicer...
If she were president...
If we were famous...
If they were swimming...
2007-10-22 21:46:17 · answer #9 · answered by Plea_of_insanity 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋