If you went to the store, for example, then you would say, “I was at the store” because it is something that definitely happened. You use the past indicative when you’re talking about reality and known facts. Was is a past tense indicative form of be, meaning “to exist or live,” and is used in the first person singular (I) and the third person singular (he/she/it). But there are some tips and tricks to remember to make sure you use the correct verb form every time. It’s possible to get mixed up even with this straight conjugation in mind. To conjugate to be in the past indicative, however, using was or were depends on the subject:
You might say, “If I were a rich man …”ĭon’t we all wish we were rich … so would you say “wish I was” or “wish I were”? If this looks a little odd, remember that these constructions are often accompanied by a word like if, as if, and though. Were is always correct in the past subjunctive: The answer all depends on two factors: 1) is your verb using first, second, or third person? And, 2) is your verb in past indicative or past subjunctive tense? Past indicative is used for ordinary objective statements or questions, and past subjunctive is used for imaginary or hypothetical statements or questions. Much of the confusion lies in when to use was versus were, which are the past tense forms of to be. Is this sentence correct? Or should If she was switch to the phrase If she were? Was vs. You might find yourself puzzling out a sentence such as: If she was unhappy, she should have said so. I am, you are, he was, they were-the forms of the verb to be, among many other things, are messy in English.
WHERE IS IT AT HOW TO
On a less existential note, there’s the question of how to use to be in the grammatically correct way. You can also substitute the phrase "for a while" for the one-word form in your context to help you decide.There are plenty of questions associated with the verb to be. If you don't trust your own feeling for language that far, you can use a rule of thumb based on the consensus of the handbooks: use a while after a preposition and before ago or back, and use awhile in other places. You can follow your own feel for the expression and write it as one word when that seems right and as two words when that seems right.
There are, therefore, a few things you can do. It is also obvious that using awhile or a while makes no great difference to the reader. It is obvious that both awhile and a while are in wide use in places where some language commentators believe the opposite form belongs. These adverbial noun phrases beginning with a and a space make it difficult to say that a while should not be used in such contexts. In this case, the difficulty of deciding what form is correct is complicated by the fact that a number of noun phrases can function as adverbs. If you are planning to stay a while, rent a covered cabana with cushioned chairs. On the other side, there is frequent use of a while as an adverb. Jayne O'Donnell, USA Today, 27 June 2011 Prices were going up rapidly nine months ago, peaked awhile back, and now, we're starting to see cotton prices go down and be more stable. Elizabeth McKenzie, The Saturday Evening Post, January/February 2012 He said Miller was down on his luck and that he wanted to help him out for awhile. Gary Miller, National Geographic Explorer, March 2012 After awhile, the plant goes back to normal. When the touch-me-not plant is touched, its leaves fold up. In fact, some people who observe language patterns note that the usage of awhile after a preposition or with words like ago or back is becoming so common that it may eventually become standard. The rules governing usage of the adverb and phrase are frequently broken, however. Marschall, Natural History, May 2015 Broken Rules Living deep in the Pennsylvania woods a while back, I became familiar with the trees that shaded my house and provided fuel for the stove….
WHERE IS IT AT OFFLINE
She was having computer trouble, she told him, and would be offline for a while.Īt a luncheon I attended recently, a speaker shared with the audience something I had said a while ago. Perhaps having to wait awhile isn't an entirely bad thing. Most grammarians feel that awhile should only be used to modify a verb and a while should be used after prepositions or in phrases like a while ago or a while back. 'Awhile' is typically used to modify a verb: "I'm going to sit and read awhile." 'A while' is typically used after a preposition: "I'm going to read for a while longer." Loose Rules for Awhile vs A While