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Amy
Devoted April 2017

SOS. Any grammar smarties out there?

Amy, on July 26, 2016 at 3:35 PM

Posted in Style and Décor 24

OK - so this is my second post today- but the other one was a dress post and totally unrelated. I am having a grammar brain fart, and I cannot order this sign from ETSY until I wrap my brain around this. Google is confusing me further. Which is correct? A or B? A) We know you would be here today if...

OK - so this is my second post today- but the other one was a dress post and totally unrelated. I am having a grammar brain fart, and I cannot order this sign from ETSY until I wrap my brain around this. Google is confusing me further. Which is correct? A or B?

A) We know you would be here today if heaven WASN'T so far away.

B) We know you would be here today if heaven WEREN'T so far away.

I'm an English major, too. I just can't figure it out. If I recall... was is factual, weren't is counter factual.

So I'm short. So I would say "I wish I weren't so short." Heaven is far away. So I would say "I wish heaven weren't so far away." Right? So the Justin Moore song is grammatically incorrect...

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24 Comments

  • OMW
    Master August 2013
    OMW ·
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    English teacher here.

    Please don't put a comma before "if." "If" is a subordinating conjunction to be used in front of a clause to make it dependent.

    Rule: A complex sentence has a dependent and an independent clause. If the dependent clause is first, the comma goes after the dependent clause. (Coincidentally, the previous sentence is an example). If an independent clause is first, a comma only goes after the clause (before the dependent clause) if the second (dependent clause) changes the subject. Since the second clause "if heaven weren't so far away" is a direct reason for the first clause, then no comma is needed.

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  • Amy
    Devoted April 2017
    Amy ·
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    There is no punctuation whatsoever in the sign

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  • Hanna
    Devoted May 2017
    Hanna ·
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    "B "WE know you would be here today if heaven weren't so far away." I do not believe a comma is necessary but I'd have to look that up. Correction. Comma is necessary

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  • Stacey
    Just Said Yes November 2018
    Stacey ·
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    I’m so confused by people saying there needs to be a comma. I don’t think it’s required. Smiley smile
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