If I were a boy - Beyonce

[Neenztwinz]

Shouldn't it be "If I was a boy"?

I see this quite a lot and it always seems wrong but I see it so often I wonder if it is right.

eg 'If he were going to take the job at the bank...' Surely it should be 'If he was going to take the job at the bank...', because you would say 'He was going to take the job at the bank'.

Subjunctive mood.

UQD

I love Pedants' Corner.

I think I love unquiet dad . It is indeed a mood and not a tense.

I stand corrected

PortAndLemon I'm so glad that someone else has got a problem with 'No Matter What' - it's a lovely concept and a beautiful book but I just have to change the words when I'm reading it (it was a hand-me-down)! In fact, I have almost gone as far as crossing out the wrong words and writing in the right ones, so that DH gets it right, but I can't quite bring myself to deface the book!

When I was four the Beatles had their hit 'She Loves You' and I remember walking down the road with my mum, singing, and her making me sing 'She loves you, yes, yes, yes'!

Years later, I forced my dch to sing 'We don't get any, education ... Teacher! Leave those children alone!'

Yes, I too have turned into my mother

Sorry, that should've read 'We don't NEED any education' Freudian slip!

going back to the poster and her straw poll - I have no idea what a subjunctive mood is, but I always say 'if I were...'

Never mind all that. The song is shite.

Ahem.

"Were" is correct.

"Was" in the OP's example is not correct.

See uses of the subjunctive.

Receive 20 lashes from pedants and atone for your sins.