The Importance Of Rule In Standard English

In the sentence If the test was held on Sunday, more people could take it, something sounds a little strange to our linguistic competency, which is our “hidden knowledge” of a language (Mihalic̆ek and Wilson). It may be difficult to point out the error, but instinctively we know an error lies somewhere within the sentence. According to Martha Kolln, “In if clauses that express a wish or a condition contrary to fact, we use were as the standard form of be, no matter what the subject” (Kolln and Funk). This stands to be the reason why, when we hear someone say was instead of were, the sound tickles our ears. However, is this a rule that should exist in Standard English? From where did this rule derive? Lastly, do people use it incorrectly nowadays, and if …show more content…
Some of the earliest records date all the way back to the year 898 in the phrase “he mehte aegtherne geraecan gif hie aenige feld secan wolden” meaning “he might each seize if they were any field would seek” (History of Prose Style 1—Old English). This text was found in an old preface to Saint Gregory’s pastoral care, and the text demonstrates one of the oldest records we have of the past conditional subjunctive being used in Old English. One of the next records we have of the past conditional subjunctive in the English Language is in the Old English Bible. This verse, written in the year 990, is from John 8:42 in the West Saxon Bible which says, “Witodlice se hælend cwæþ to him gif god wære eowre fæder. witodlice ge lufedon me. Ic com of gode ne com ic na fram me sylfon ac he me sende” (Visser). This verse translates in the English Standard Version Bible as “Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me’” (English Standard Version Bible). In this context, the If were and the gif wære both