Good day. I've been learning modal remoteness and the irrealis were, and I understand that the irrealis were is limited to 1st and 3rd person singular subjects. Now, my quesiton is, what should I use with the 2nd person singular? I've seen both "if you was" and "if you were" used in published books.
What's the difference between "If you was to crack it open" and "If you were to crack it open?"
Is 'you was' primarily used very informally? Like in this passage from Discworld: “An’ if you was a troll, he’d have all your teeth knocked out an’ make cuff links out of ’em.”
Thanks.
Best Answer
The "you was" example reads as if it's an East London accent. "You were" is always the correct version, "you was" is informal and would only normally be written to demonstrate that a particular character speaks that way..