If I were or if I was?

Answer 1

if i was... for ex: if i was older, i would go to a club

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If I were is a form that will be used less and less over time. It is an example of the subjunctive mood which is now considered to be obsolete, or at least in its death throes. It indicates desire, hypothesis, possibility or supposition. If I were a rich man is an example that many have heard. I am not rich, there is a very slight chance that I will be one day, but right now I am singing about the desire to be rich, and not the fact of being rich. Another example is if I were you. The subjunctive can sound a little different depending on how you construct it. Were I to live without your love 'twould not be living, though I would live the thought of loving you. (I just made it up.) Along the same lines: Would that you love me, if only in your thoughts! Our living thoughts might live and love as one.

The first contribution shows that the use of verbs in the subjunctive mood is not common. These examples also show the difference between subjunctive and indicative. When I was 21 it was a very good year... If I were 21 I would go to a club. In another generation or two, the subjunctive will sound archaic, quaint, maybe even sanctimonious. That is unfortunate; I find it beautiful.

Answer 2

Both if there was and if there were are grammatically correct in modern English.

Until the Eighteenth Century English had a true subjunctive, and the verb form were in if there were would have marked the statement as counterfactual:

If there were a McDonalds on the Moon, you might get the American public interested in science. (but there is not).

But since the 1800's the subjunctive has been disappearing from English, so these days many speakers will say 'If there was a McDonalds on the Moon ...', and this is now considered correct English.

Answer 3

I favour 'if it was" as the 'it' is singular and so is 'was'.