&quot;One of my family members were/was sick last night.&quot; In this sentence should I use was or were? Please explain. Which one is subject and why? Please explain with detailed information. I am having trouble with sentences like this.
124078
Which one is correct? Please explain.  I saw one of my classmates who was also on the boat while travelling to Saint Martin.   I saw one of my classmates who were also on the boat while travelling to Saint Martin.  In this sentence what is the subject and why? How can I find the subject in sentences like this?
54756
Where did you go last night?   Where went you last night?   Is there a reason we say the first of the previous two sentences as opposed to the last one?   I know the second sentence is ungrammatical. I was just wondering if there was more of a rule than just "asking questions in the simple past needs 'did' + verb in the present tense."
16247
I was taught that, at least, 'therefore' and 'so' and can be used interchangeably, one being informal, the other formal. But, even when written, replacing 'so' with 'therefore' doesn't seem correct.     I was tired so I fell asleep.   ...     I was tired therefore I fell asleep.   Am I even allowed to use therefore as a conjunction here? The dictionary says I can, but it would seem more suitable to say:     I was tired and therefore I fell asleep.   I realise hence and thus (and even ergo) are rarely used, but where do they fit into this?
68939
In indirect speech we generally backshift the tense. For ex - Direct speech : "I am the most powerful person." Indirect speech : "He said that he was the most powerful person."  What if someone reports like -  He denied the charges claiming that he is/was the most powerful person. So here which is correct- is or was ?  Thanks in advance.
96795
In 1999, I was living in Cuba.      In 1999, I lived in Cuba.   Do both sentences seem grammatically correct?   My teacher had told that the first sentence, which is with past continuous, is incorrect. I don't know whether or not the first sentence is correct. It indeed seems natural, doesn't it?
86090
The sentence is   Travellers  ________________ their reservation well in advance if they want to fly during winter vacation.  Which is suitable to complete this sentence. Please give some explanation so that I can understand.  1. had better to get  2. had better get
18222
Have you got a cold? Have you got flu? Have you got the flu?  Why can't we say a flu or the cold in the previous examples?
48637
For hypothetical situations, I've read that mostly, it is safer to use "were" for ifs.     If the world were peaceful, there would be no wars.   But, I've also read that for some unhypothetical/past situations, it is correct to use "was".      If he was here, he would have gotten perfect.   That's indicating the past, not the future. "If he were here" conveys a slightly different meaning I believe.  Though it is understandable, it is still quite a blurry line, especially when "as if" comes into place, which is my original question:  For "as if" circumstances, like the one below, is "was" or "were" more appropriate?     He gazed upon the massacre before him with tranquil eyes, as if he was/were a spectator unrelated to it all.   The above does seem to be somewhat hypothetical, so "were" would seem to be the correct answer. However, it also seems like a comparison, as it is comparing a spectator to him.  So, question: For "as if" cases, should you always use "were", and if not, in what situations should "was" be used?
441
If I was... If I were...   When is it correct to use "If I was" vs. "If I were" in standard English?
103161
In my English reviewing paper, I have a multiple choices question like this:   "Henry ___ a rich man today if he had been more careful in the past".   I filled in "would have been" and my teacher confirmed that it was correct but when I looked up answers online, "would be" was also the correct answer.   If I use "would have been" then the sentence becomes a type 3 conditional sentence. If I use "would be" then the sentence becomes a mixed conditional sentence. Both of these options seem suitable so I'm pretty confused.  I have a pretty important test coming soon so could someone explain this to me please. If I use one rather than the other, will the meaning of the sentence change?
21895
Can anyone please help and tell me if this sentence is correct?  &quot;A significant amount of zombies were detected in your city.&quot;  In my opinion it should be &quot;A significant amount of zombies was detected in your city.&quot; because &quot;amount&quot; should be in agreement with &quot;was&quot; even though amount usually refers to something plural. Are both (was and were) acceptable in this case? Edit1: Yes, &quot;number&quot; would be the correct one in this case. So allow me to ask one more thing.  &quot;A significant amount of purchases were detected...&quot;  Does the use of &quot;number&quot; apply in this case also? As purchase is not exactly a thing/person. And if no, is it correct to say &quot;A significant amount of purchases were detected...&quot;? Edit2: So, please tell me what is the correct phrasing?  &quot;A significant amount of purchases were detected...&quot; &quot;A significant amount of purchases was detected...&quot;  Or, since purchases are countable, is the use of &quot;number&quot; instead of &quot;amount&quot; correct here, as in:  &quot;A significant number of purchases were detected...&quot; &quot;A significant number of purchases was detected...&quot;  Or would amount be correct since a purchase involves money and it refers to the amount of money? Would greatly appreciate an answer, and if possible a detailed explanation.
34371
I would like others to explain this to me. Which one is correct?   What I like the most about my family is... What I like most about my family is...   Thank you!
108809
Today I heard a speaker use the phrase "this person", referring to the subject-person of the story they were telling, and I heard it as (that person). Between the words “this” or “that” in context with the phrase and story-tense, which should you use.
51684
While I'm aware of  it does not quite answer my question. I have a simple sentence:     If any of the devices was not switched off, do something.   Is there supposed to be was or were? I was thinking about was since it could be rephrased as:     If any one of the devices was not switched off, do something.   But maybe that does not make any sense at all. Also, this is for a technical documentation where more formal language is preferred, not sure if that makes any difference.
61763
I wanted to know if it is grammatically correct to say:  Either the teacher or the students WAS enjoying the picnic.  I'm talking about a grammatical principle and not a proximity or attraction one.  Thank you so much..
43515
I'm wondering the subject of the second clause in a sentence like   You should tell him to get up and get back to work   The subject of get back to work is ambiguous to me. It could be interpreted as either  You should tell him to get up and [you] get back to work   or  You should tell him to get up and [him] get back to work   How should I form the sentence so that either option is explicit and unambiguous?
15213
How do we use myself as the only subject of a sentence?   For example I once heard some people saying Myself am to be blamed. Is this grammatically correct? How is it different from I am to be blamed?