God save...

[butter_fly]

... the subjunctive!


Few things annoy me more than to hear, “If I was you ...” Most who actually
know that there exists a verbal mood called the subjunctive agree that it
appears to be vanishing in common usage. Earlier in the twentieth century,
grammarians and linguists proclaimed the subjunctive's death and argued that
this was no big loss, as its historical role in English had been weak and
inconsistent; some even went so far as to say that in Modern English its
usage is “pretentious”. The fools ! The subjunctive mood is a beautiful and
valuable component of the English language, and instead of dying out, it
actually is enjoying a subtle revival.

www.ceafinney.com/subjunctive/