GRAMMAR: "If I were"

" If I were...I would..."

We use sentence constructions like the above to express non-realistic or hypothetical situations:

1. If I were the president, I would reform the education sector.✔️

2. If I am the president..❌

3. If I was the president...❌

Why do we use "if I were you..," a past form in a present contextual sentence?

We use "were" instead of "was" because the sentence is in the subjunctive case, a condition which is contrary to fact or reality.

Grammaticality, we use the following formula in such sentence: If I ( or any other pronoun) were you (or any other pronoun)+ would+ verb (uninflected verb):

If I were you, I would slap the girl.

 Sentences like the above one express what decision one would take if he were in the same circumstance as the person he addresses. In other words, " If I were you..." is used when giving advice about what you would do in the same situation as the other person in that case:

1. If she were here, I would advise her to disengage.✔️

The above sentence is called the subjunctive case; it consists of two clauses, one with a wish, the other with a second subjunctive verb. 

" If she was..." can only be used when writing in reference to past context. Example: I apologise if I was wrong.✔️

But " if I were..." is only used in hypothetical sense or when writing/speaking about non-realistic situations:

If I were the husband, I would advise her to go.✔️

By Salisu Yusuf