Which of the following is more accurate?
A) It didn't seem as though that were still the case.
B) It didn't seem as though that was still the case.
It seems to me that "as though" indicates condition contrary to fact, which wants the subjunctive, which would be "were." But it looks a little odd to me. Both look a little odd to me.
Fellow grammar guardians, what is the mind of the house on this?
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13 comments:
This is broken? It doesn't look broken.
Subjunctive. Although most native English speakers rarely use the proper tense in spoken English, which is probably why it sounds funny on the ear.
I agree - "as though" definitely wants the subjunctive.
That is to say, most native AMERICAN English speakers. I can't speak for the Brits. :)
I vote for Option A. Option B sounds funny!
Micah concurs, though he falsely believes my comments to be broken and had to email me instead.
It's settled then - the subjunctive stays.
definitly a
Subjunctive, indeed.
Were.
Loverly use of a dying gramatical detail.
Actually, if you use an aggregator to get to an individual post, there's no way to comment. There's a tag missing from your profile. I'm pretty sure I know where it goes, so if you want to email me your profile again, I'll take a look.
Yep, although late, I agree. it should be "were," then again, with all the Spanish in my head right now, I wouldn't entirely trust my opinion of English grammar.
Simply to be contrary (and to evade the actual question):
If the phrase in question causes readers difficulty, perhaps an alternative means of expressing oneself is in order.
woohoo! evading the question! that's the perfect response for a cpe assignment
This sounds a bit like Prarie Home Companion from this evening (7/02/2005). Garrison K. said that the best way to celebrate Independence Day was (or is that were) to use the English language badly. A way, he suggests, of continuing to thumb our noses at them Brits.
I'm on call at the hospital this evening, so this whole dialogue has been a nice distraction. tx.
Of course it's subjunctive and thus requires "were." But here's an interesting aside. I recently heard (on NPR, I believe) that only 3% of the U.S. population uses the subjunctive correctly. So give yourself a pat on the back for even thinking to use it!
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