From other's conversation,I found out they mentioned I was and sometimes they also mentioned I were.
Is there any rules for I was/were?
Learn English – I ‘was’ or I ‘were’
subjunctivesword-choice
Related Solutions
Yes, you are using the past subjunctive and yes, you should say "If he were you".
With moods, just like tenses, we know the conjugation. That's because every conjugation happens for some combination of tense and mood. There is a never a verb which has a tense but no mood or a mood but no tense. If we don't name a mood, such as when we talk about the "past tense" it's because the most common mood, the indicative, is assumed. As in, you are indicating something, in other words saying that something exists or is true. That's got to be 95% of the things we say every day.
Don't worry too much about moods as a category -- other than conditional, they are simple and consistent in English. Studying the conditional as its own unique category should be enough because English has a great deal of nuance in conditionals. (e.g. "If you had been", "If you were to be", "If you were to have been", ...)
(EDIT: Based on some of the other answers, I have decided to clarify with further examples and discussion.)
This is not to say that "If I was" is never correct! Rather, it has a different meaning. This page explains it well. Here are two examples that I hope make it clear:
"If I were sick, I would not have come to the party." (subj.)
This is subjunctive because it tells me that the speaker does not believe he was sick and is imagining some different reality and how things would be different.
"If I was sick, I didn't know it at the time." (ind.)
This is indicative because it tells me that the speaker doesn't know whether he was sick. He is speaking (with uncertainty) about this reality in which we live, not an imagined reality where something is different.
VERY IMPORTANT: You will find a lot of incorrect usage of "was"/"were" on the internet, on TV, and in conversation with native English speakers because this is one of the most commonly ignored rules in modern English. I didn't say "most common mistakes" because it is easy to understand the meaning even if the wrong word is used. For example:
"If I was ..., I would have ..." (common, but not technically correct)
In this sentence, we know that the speaker is speaking in subjunctive mood even though he used "was", because the "would have" is unmistakably subjunctive. You should avoid this usage on a resume or in an academic paper, and probably even in important business meetings. In other situations it is generally consider informal, rather than a mistake.
In 200 years, it is very likely that "if I were" is going to be gone from the language and will be only found in historical usage. There was a time when people in England went to jail for referring to the King as "thou" instead of "you". Then for probably a hundred years, some people ignored the difference and some others people said "those fools have terrible grammar and no respect." I'm sorry for all the confusion, but this is part of any living, changing language.
"Were to" is used instead of "was to" because it's an example of the subjunctive: it's explaining a situation that is either hypothetical (as in the case you mentioned) or imaginary, rather than something that is definite.
I am not sure if the phrase "if I was to" is ever grammatically correct. I don't think it is.
If you remove "to", there are some distinctions between the forms "if I were" and "if I was".
If I were stronger than you, then I would win at arm-wrestling.
This is also an example of the subjunctive, and describes a situation that is not currently true, but either could be, or could not but expresses a wish to be.
If I was stronger than you, then I never took advantage of it.
This is not subjunctive, and it indicates an uncertain past: something that might have happened in the past, or it might not.
What would be the meaning if I only used: "… If Chaudhary jumped they would catch him …"?
That has about the same meaning. I would say either is acceptable usage.
He was to become boss but he retired early.
He retired before people expected him to. If he had not retired, he would have become the boss.
He was to come at 5:00 am but the train arrived late.
He was supposed to be there at 5:00am when the train arrived. But the train did not arrive on time, so he got there sometime after 5:00am.
Best Answer
The only context where were is appropriate after I is when the sentence is in the subjunctive mood. For example:
All the above sentences suggest you want to be something you are factually not. In other words, you are NOT young, a boy, a policeman, a rich man and you are sorry that you are not young, a boy, a policeman, a rich man.
This sentence also suggests a hypothetical and impossible scenario because I can never be you.
In the old days, "I wish I was young" to express an impossible scenario was considered ungrammatical, colloquial and some people even said it sounds uneducated, but it has changed and I hear many people use "was" in place of "were". However, in some context, the meaning could be slightly different and you can visit the following links to learn more about how it works. You will notice many people have different views on this issue. The most important thing is you understand when it is used and what it means.
Why is it “If I were you” and not “If I was you”?
“If I was” or “If I were”. Which is more common, and which is correct?