were / If I were you / were to

Article excerpt · target grammar marked

If you were to get a big promotion tomorrow, how happy would you be? Most people answer confidently: very happy. But psychologist Daniel Kahneman found something strange.

Grammar Reference · were / If I were you / were to

were (all persons)

If I were a manager, I would change everything. — formal/subjunctive: use were for all subjects

If I were you…

If I were you, I would ask for a pay rise. — fixed advice phrase; never 'If I was you'

were to + infinitive

If she were to leave, the team would struggle. — more formal hypothetical; emphasises low probability

Common error

If I was you… ✗ → If I were you… ✓ — were is always correct here

01Exercise 1 — Form · Write the Correct Form

were / If I were you / were to

1.If I you, I would speak to your manager about that trade-off before making a decision.

2.If she to leave the company, the whole team would lose a pivotal source of motivation.

3.If he more aware of hedonic adaptation, he would not overestimate his future job satisfaction.

4.If I you, I would not accept a role based on job prestige alone.

5.If redundancy to happen, would you use it as a chance to retrain?

6.If ambition the only driver, most people would ignore intrinsic motivation completely.

02Exercise 2 — Transform

rewrite with the new structure

1.If I was you, I would look for a job with more meaning.

2.If she was to apply, she would need to update her CV.

3.If he was honest, he would admit that prestige was not enough.

4.If they was to offer more flexible hours, more people would stay.

5.If I was a researcher, I would study affective forecasting in the workplace.

6.If it was to rain tomorrow, we would move the team event indoors.

03Exercise 3 — About You

in your notebook

Personalise: complete five sentences about yourself using the target grammar.

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