Question

What is the difference between “If I were you” and “If I was you”? Which is correct?

Answer 1

Hint: This question is from the topic of moods of speech in English grammar. There are two kinds of moods; indicative and subjunctive.

Complete answer:
In English grammar, when we frame sentences, we always do so in either of the two moods.
When we talk about real or actual things, it is said to be the indicative mood. For e.g.
I am busy.
I live in India.
Yesterday, I ate a burger.

In this mood, every word is used in the form that it is meant to be. The subject-verb agreement and other rules are all followed.

The other mood is used when we are talking about things and scenarios that are not real, or they are imaginary, like wishes, dreams, hypothetical situation, etc. This is known as the subjunctive mood. These are sentences in which we wish for something that hasn’t happened or cannot happen. It is also used for sentences that show belief, possibilities, opinions, probabilities, commands, etc.

The phrase given in the sentence, is If I were you. This is the correct statement. In the subjunctive mood when we use the verb be after a pronoun, it has to be used in the form where. It does not matter whether the pronoun is, I, we, you, he, she, it or they, it will always be ‘were’.

Therefore, If I were you is the correct form.

Note: The phrase ‘if I was’ is used when we talk in the simple past and not about an imaginary thing. For e.g. I’m sorry if I was rude. You could have corrected me if I was wrong.