麻豆社

This page has been archived and is no longer updated. Find out more about page archiving.
Search 麻豆社
麻豆社 World Service
麻豆社 麻豆社 News 麻豆社 Sport 麻豆社 Weather 麻豆社 World Service Worldservice languages
spacer gif
You are in: Home > Grammar, Vocabulary & Pronunciation > Ask about English
Learning English
spacer gif
learn it! title
'If I were' and 'people'
a number of people

Mohammed Abdul-Malek from Saudi Arabia asks:

1. When can I use 鈥業f I was鈥︹��?

2. Which is correct: 鈥榯here is a number of people鈥� or 鈥榯here are a number of people鈥�?

3. An hour after 11 a.m., is it 12 a.m. or 12 p.m.?

 

Roger replies:more questions

1. If I was鈥� is a colloquial alternative to If I were鈥�.

In speech, many English people say If I was鈥�, but If I were鈥� is held to be grammatically correct. It is better, therefore, to stick to If I were鈥�, as in these two examples:

  • 鈥業f I were you, I鈥檇 fill the tank now so that we don鈥檛 run out of petrol.鈥�

  • 鈥業f I were to call in on my way home from work, would that be all right?鈥�
2: Some singular expressions referring to more than one person or thing are commonly used with plural verbs, 'a number of' is one of those expressions.
  • 鈥楾here are a number of people in that room.鈥�
3. It's neither! a.m. means before midday, p.m. means after midday so midday itself is neither a.m. or p.m. To be accurate we can say 12 o'clock midday or 12 noon.

麻豆社 copyright
 
Learning English | News English | Business English | Watch and Listen
 
Grammar and Vocabulary | Communicate | Quizzes | For teachers
 
Downloads | FAQ | Contact us