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IF I WAS/IF I WERE |
The subjunctive mood, always weak in English, has been dwindling away for centuries until it has almost vanished. According to traditional thought, statements about the conditional future such as "If I were a carpenter . . ." require the subjunctive "were;" but "was" is certainly much more common. A quick check of the Web shows "if I was" to be used approximately one hundred times more often than "if I were." Still, if you want to impress those in the know with your usage, use "were."