Use of plural form of auxiliary verb for singular subject

Asked Sep 29 '18 at 03:19

Active Sep 29 '18 at 03:35

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This is an excerpt from an article published on the Nautilus website:

...We in the 21st century would be shocked if an educated adult were unable to identify the continents on a world map, yet we are quite comfortable with widespread obliviousness about anything but the most superficial highlights...

Why has 'were' been used instead of singular 'was'?

asked Sep 29 '18 at 03:19

Eru

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The plural verb form, or what looks like a plural verb, is used in several constructions, including conditional statements that talk about hypothetical or contrary-to-fact situations. This question really belongs on English Language Learners. – Arm the good guys in America Sep 29 '18 at 04:14
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Possible duplicate of When to use "If I was" vs. "If I were"? – herisson Sep 29 '18 at 04:24
This "were" is called the 'irrealis' mood, a special mood form unique to "be", and limited to 1st and 3rd person singular. Many people would use preterite "was" instead. Irrealis "were" is more formal than "was" and is preferred by older speakers. – BillJ Sep 29 '18 at 13:47

Use of plural form of auxiliary verb for singular subject

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