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  1. If I were a dog, I’d bark all day.
  2. If I was a dog, I’d bark all day

Thanks in advance for your precious answers.

Ahmed
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Julie
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  • Both forms are perfectly acceptable, the irrealis mood form "were" being somewhat more formal than the modal preterite "was". Irrealis "were" is an untidy relic from an earlier system, and many speakers usually, if not always, use preterite"was" instead. – BillJ Jun 28 '18 at 17:43

1 Answers1

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Use "was" for something (you asert to be) true, but "were" for something hypothetical.

The committee met every Tuesday. If it was a holiday, then the committee did not meet.

If I were the king of the world, everyone would have free ice cream for dinner.

So in your case (unless you really were a dog) you should use were.

[added for fun] From the movie Six-String Samurai
Bad guy: If I were you, I'd run.
Good guy: If you were me, you'd be good-lookin'!

GEdgar
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