How to Use “Was” vs. “Were” Correctly

• Was and were are both simple past tense forms of the verb to be, but they are not interchangeable.
• Was is the regular singular simple past tense form of to be for both the first person (“I was”) and the third person (“he was”).
• Were is the regular second-person singular simple past tense form of to be (“you were”) and all plural simple past forms (“they were,” “we were”).
• Were becomes the correct first-person and third-person singular form in the subjunctive mood, which is used to talk about hypothetical situations and is often introduced with terms like if, wish, and as though.
• Whether you say “If I was” or “If I were” depends on whether you’re referring to an imaginary situation or something that actually happened.

Chances are, you’re already perfectly familiar with the main difference between was and were: They’re both simple past tense forms of the verb to be, but was is singular and were is plural, except for in the second-person singular (“you were”). But what about those expressions you sometimes hear when people are talking about hypothetical situations or wishful thinking—for instance, in a sentence like “If I was/were a dog … ”? What’s the right choice?

In those cases, the key to understanding when to use was and when to use were in a sentence is understanding the subjunctive mood. Read on for all the tools you’ll need to understand the subjunctive mood and the difference between was and were.

Table of contents

Was vs. were: What’s the difference?

When to use was

When to use were

Was and were past indicative and past subjunctive forms

Is it “If I were” or “If I was”?

Use were, not was, for wishful thinking

Was vs. were FAQs

Was vs. were: What’s the difference?

The difference between was and were is that they are different conjugations, or forms, of the verb to be.

In the simple past tense, indicative mood (also called the past indicative), was is the singular form for all points of view except for the second person, and were is the plural form for all points of view except for the second person:

In the simple past tense, subjunctive mood, were is the only form of to be—it is singular as well as plural:

When to use was

Use was when talking about something singular that existed in the past. It is the correct simple past tense conjugation of the verb to be, for both the first-person singular and the third-person singular, in the indicative mood:

Verbs change form to show grammatical mood, which is the verb property that communicates the way a verb expresses an action or a condition. The indicative mood is the most common of these, and it is used for statements of fact or firm belief or questions, like the examples above.

When to use were

There are two circumstances in which you should use were. The first, more common one is when you are writing or speaking in the simple past tense: Were is the second-person singular form and all the plural forms of to be in the simple past:

The second circumstance is when you use the subjunctive mood, which expresses that the action or state expressed by a verb is hypothetical, wished for, or dependent on certain conditions. Were is the only conjugation of to be in the past subjunctive—as you can see in the following examples, the subjunctive mood uses past tense conjugations, although it refers to conditions of the present or future, not the past:

Was and were past indicative and past subjunctive forms

To see even more clearly when to use was and when to use were, look at this side-by-side comparison of the past indicative and past subjunctive conjugations of to be:

As the table shows, whether you’re trying to use the past indicative or the past subjunctive, you can’t go wrong when choosing were for the second-person singular (you), the third-person generic singular (they), the first-person plural (we), the second-person plural (you), or the third-person plural (they). You need to choose between was and were only for the first-person singular (I) and the rest of the third-person singular pronouns (he, she, and it).

Is it “If I were” or “If I was”?

Use the subjunctive form, “If I were,” if the condition you are describing is contrary to the current reality. Use the indicative form, “If I was,” when expressing a factual possibility about something in the past.

Use “If I were” to begin a sentence expressing a hypothetical situation because that is one example of a condition contrary to the current reality:

The first sentence can be described as an unreal conditional sentence. These hypotheticals are easy to spot because they are often introduced by an if and are related to another clause containing would or could.

Another type of unreal conditional sentence that uses the same kind of construction and takes the subjunctive were is the impossible or improbable type:

Here, the speaker is implying that the puzzle is unsolvable. Therefore, the idea of solving the puzzle is contrary to reality, and the subjunctive were is used instead of the indicative was.

Not every clause beginning with if requires the subjunctive, however, because not every clause of that kind expresses something impossible or imaginary. Take this example:

In this sentence, the speaker acknowledges that it is possible they were mistaken about Felicity loving puppies and thus shouldn’t be giving her one. The fact that the speaker is describing what may be reality makes this an indicative sentence, not a subjunctive one. That’s why it uses “If I was” instead of “If I were.”

Use were, not was, for wishful thinking

A good sign that you should use the subjunctive is when the word wish is present. Because a wish is the desire or hope for something that cannot or probably will not happen, the substance of a wish is automatically contrary to fact, which calls for the subjunctive mood. Here are a couple of examples of wishes expressed with were:

The only trick to knowing when to use the indicative was and when to use the subjunctive were is knowing the difference between what’s real and what’s imaginary. We use were with expressions that are hypothetical, wishful, imagined, desired, or doubtful—contrary to fact. We use was when we’re firmly grounded in the possible and the factual.

Was vs. were FAQs

What’s the difference between was and were?

Was and were are two different conjugations of the verb to be. In the simple past tense, indicative mood, was is the singular first- and third-person form and were is the plural first- and third-person form, along with the form for both the singular and plural second person. In the simple past tense, subjunctive mood, were is the correct conjugation for any number or person.

How do you use was vs. were in a sentence?

Use was when discussing something singular that existed or was true in the past:

Use were when discussing something plural that existed or was true in the past:

Use were when discussing something hypothetical, wished for, or unlikely to happen:

Should you say “If I was” or “If I were”?

Use “If I was” to begin a sentence expressing something that is likely to be true:

Use “If I were” to begin a sentence expressing a condition contrary to reality: