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"That's a very, very funny question given the time frame, would have been even funnier if it was a month in the future."

My friend corrected me, and said it should be "were a month in the future" Is that correct if both question and month are singular?

Dumpcats
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    It's fine the way you said it. Your friend was probably thinking it should have been "subjunctive", which is a name some early grammarians used for a particular use of were after if instead of was when speaking of an imaginary past. It's dying out, but you may encounter it here and there; don't use it unless you understand the grammar of it completely. You friend probably doesn't if they left you thinking this was about singular and plural number agreement. – John Lawler Feb 12 '20 at 21:32
  • I'm a fan of the subjunctive but as JL says, it's disappearing. In this case I might have said "if it had been a month...", depending on context. – Jim Mack Feb 12 '20 at 22:21
  • Complementing Prof. Lawler's concise summary above is his in-depth answer over on the question I'm closing this as a duplicate of. – RegDwigнt Feb 12 '20 at 22:21

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