# it wasn't were was it?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasnt-were-was-it/63118>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 24, 2001, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasnt-were-was-it/63118 "2001-04-24T12:10:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![upperdeckfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/65b543/32.png) [@upperdeckfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/upperdeckfan)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2001, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasnt-were-was-it/63118/1 "2001-04-24T12:10:47Z")

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Which of the following sentences is correct -

1. If I was king, I’d be rich.

2. If I were king, I’d be rich.

I always thought “was” referred to a singular subject. I constantly read examples of the 2nd sentence used in sentences. This includes articles in newspapers and magazines. Which one is correct?

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**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2001, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasnt-were-was-it/63118/2 "2001-04-24T12:15:13Z")

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I should be the last person to answer this, but here we go.

The way I see it, you’d use “was” for things that actually happened in the past. “I was walking in the park”.

And you’d use “were” for hypothetical situations. “If I were King, I’d have all of you shot”. (Not really!)

Then again, I could be completely off.

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**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2001, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-wasnt-were-was-it/63118/3 "2001-04-24T12:50:25Z")

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And since you thought it was necessary to answer the same question two days in a row, I’ll close this thread. Don’t do that again.