1) My wife asked me if it was cold out last night.
2) My wife asked me if it were cold out last night.
Now why is that different than my sentence?
What is the difference between "it IT was"
And
"If YOU was"
"If it was", speaking about the past, is grammatically correct.
"If you was", is grammatically incorrect no matter what.
John 5:24 24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
“A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.”
-Edward R Murrow
St. Richard the Sarcastic--The Patron Saint of Irony
Was is used in the first person singular (I) and the third person singular (he, she, it).
Were is used in the second person singular and plural (you, your, yours) and first and third person plural (we, they).
The forms that was and were will take in your sentence are summarized in the chart below,
Singular = I was, You were, He was, She was, It was
Plural = We were, You were, They were
I was driving to the park.
You were drinking some water.
He was about to eat dinner.
She was at the roller rink.
It was a great time.
We were in the right spot.
They were nowhere to be seen.
John 5:24 24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
“A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.”
-Edward R Murrow
St. Richard the Sarcastic--The Patron Saint of Irony
Was is used in the first person singular (I) and the third person singular (he, she, it).
Were is used in the second person singular and plural (you, your, yours) and first and third person plural (we, they).
The forms that was and were will take in your sentence are summarized in the chart below,
Singular = I was, You were, He was, She was, It was
Plural = We were, You were, They were
I was driving to the park.
You were drinking some water.
He was about to eat dinner.
She was at the roller rink.
It was a great time.
We were in the right spot.
They were nowhere to be seen.
1) My wife asked me if it was cold out last night.
2) My wife asked me if it were cold out last night.
Now why is that different than my sentence?
What is the difference between "it IT was"
And
"If YOU was"
"If it was", speaking about the past, is grammatically correct.
"If you was", is grammatically incorrect no matter what.
Nonsense; i can write a sentence entirely acceptable to the dean of the English dept.
at Oxford, why, the very Queen Mother herself, employing those exact words.
When I asked if my sentence was grammatically correct, the first response was from Nick. The next was from Jason, who is an expert, and said it is grammatically correct. And he gave his reasoning.
Audie,
Are you going to concede you are wrong, and apologize? Or are you going to continue to be stubborn, despite all the evidence against you?
John 5:24 24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
“A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.”
-Edward R Murrow
St. Richard the Sarcastic--The Patron Saint of Irony
Anyway, grammar experts rarely say that one form of words is more correct than another. Using different words simply changes the meaning slightly. The original sentence:
"Then your wife asked you if it was comfortable sleeping in the dog house," is perfectly correct, if you had in fact spent some time asleep in the doghouse. "...if it were comfortable... changes the meaning to add a degree of uncertainty, which is probably not warranted in the context of the joke. It implies a conditional, which does not seem to be present.
Deleting the word "you" changes the meaning again, as does adding the words "last night."
What did "your wife" actually say?
"Is it comfortable sleeping in the dog house?" (You slept there last night and will probably sleep there again)
"Was is comfortable sleeping in the dog house?" (You slept there last night, but not necessarily again)
"Will it be comfortable sleeping in the dog house?" (A question you cannot be certain of the answer to)
One of the reasons grammarians find it difficult to say what it correct and what is not is the difficulty of justifying their justifying their prognostications by evidence. Has anybody got any?
RickD wrote:When I asked if my sentence was grammatically correct, the first response was from Nick. The next was from Jason, who is an expert, and said it is grammatically correct. And he gave his reasoning.
Audie,
Are you going to concede you are wrong, and apologize? Or are you going to continue to be stubborn, despite all the evidence against you?
I will comcede that you rewrote your sentence before submitting it.
RickD wrote:When I asked if my sentence was grammatically correct, the first response was from Nick. The next was from Jason, who is an expert, and said it is grammatically correct. And he gave his reasoning.
Audie,
Are you going to concede you are wrong, and apologize? Or are you going to continue to be stubborn, despite all the evidence against you?
I will comcede that you rewrote your sentence before submitting it.
No Audie. That would be intentionally dishonest.
John 5:24 24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
“A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.”
-Edward R Murrow
St. Richard the Sarcastic--The Patron Saint of Irony
RickD wrote:When I asked if my sentence was grammatically correct, the first response was from Nick. The next was from Jason, who is an expert, and said it is grammatically correct.
Audie,
Are you going to concede you are wrong, and apologize? Or are you going to continue to be stubborn, despite all the evidence against you?
I will comcede that you rewrote your sentence before submitting it.
No Audie. That would be intentionally dishonest.
Come on Rick, that IS Audie's way of apologizing.
Let us proclaim the mystery of our faith: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.
RickD wrote:When I asked if my sentence was grammatically correct, the first response was from Nick. The next was from Jason, who is an expert, and said it is grammatically correct.
Audie,
Are you going to concede you are wrong, and apologize? Or are you going to continue to be stubborn, despite all the evidence against you?
I will comcede that you rewrote your sentence before submitting it.
No Audie. That would be intentionally dishonest.
Come on Rick, that IS Audie's way of apologizing.
Really? Coulda fooled me.
John 5:24 24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
“A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.”
-Edward R Murrow
St. Richard the Sarcastic--The Patron Saint of Irony
What do you think? She's a woman Rick!
