if it were ...

aze   Wednesday, June 16, 2004, 07:05 GMT
In the following sentence, can we replace "were" with "was"?

If it were any good, my doctor would tell me about it

Thank you.
Might Mick   Wednesday, June 16, 2004, 07:09 GMT
No, but in speech we often do.
Jim   Wednesday, June 16, 2004, 07:16 GMT
Yes and no, as Mick says. The pedantic prescriptivists would say no, no way, never. Be advised not to use "was" in a grammar test. However, in more causual contexts you'll easily get away with it. I always try sticking to "were".