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I wrote the following and was asked to justify my use of "would" vs "will" and "was" vs "am":

"If we were to Skype, everyone in my office would be able to hear what I was saying."

Was what I wrote correct or incorrect? And either way, why?

Thank you so much!

C. Carter
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  • See if this helps: http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/56876/future-tense-in-conditional-clauses?rq=1 – vickyace Apr 02 '17 at 13:59
  • And regarding would: http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/365242/english-conditionals-and-would?rq=1 – vickyace Apr 02 '17 at 14:00
  • "If we were to Skype, everyone in our office would be able to hear what we were saying." Or, "If I were to Skype, everyone in my office would be able to hear what I was saying." – mahmud k pukayoor Apr 02 '17 at 14:04
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    @ Mahmud Koya, no that would change my meaning. The Skype in question would be between me, in "my" office, and someone else in a different location. So it is not "our" office. And assuming the person wears headphones, it is not what "we" were saying that would be overheard. – C. Carter Apr 03 '17 at 14:24

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The subjunctive mood is "used to explore conditional or imaginary situations. It can be tricky to use, which partially explains why many speakers and writers forgo it. But it’s quite useful (and aesthetically pleasing, at least to us), and careful users of English should do their part to preserve it."

Your sentence is a hypothetical of the if-then variety.

As a side note, I also agree with your use of "we" and "my". The "I" implies that your Skyping partner is muted or (more likely) that you are using headphones. Otherwise, I'd go with "we" there.

cmcf
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