If I was to live and avoid terrible deficits, I would have to have urgent surgery.
Is this grammatically correct? Shouldn't it be "If I were"? Most importantly, what is the grammar rule governing this concept?
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kitcat
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@Andrew Leach. I agree that the post is a duplicate of any number of similar questions here. But the sentence itself is problematic. Generally, the if I were construction introduces either 1. a present counterfactual or 2. a future unlikely action: 1. If I were to live in LA... (I don't) | 2. If I were to live in LA ( unlikely that I ever will). The OP's if-clause is not usage 1. And if it is intended to be usage 2, then it does not work with the would clause. It could make sense as usage 1: If I were determined to live, I would... But this does seem to be what OP means. – Shoe May 19 '20 at 10:20
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Thanks @Shoe comment yep, I am still struggling to find answer from the post suggested by Andrew. In this case, if the person is suffering from an illness and is thinking about going for surgery, should it be "if I was to live" or "if I were to live?" Also this is published in New Yorker which I supposed they have vetted through... – kitcat May 20 '20 at 10:32