If I WAS / If I WERE... how to choose?



   case 1      HYPOTHETICAL SITUATION   



If I was rich, I would buy a new house.      
INFORMAL  (OK, but grammatically wrong

If I were rich, I
would buy a new house.   
   
 FORMAL    (OK and grammatically correct


   case 2       FACT IN THE PAST     


If I was stupid on the phone yesterday, I'm sorry!   
 
  

OK & grammatically correct

If I were stupid on the phone yesterday, I'm sorry!  
   
 
NOT OK and grammatically wrong


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For more information, click here and here.                                                                                                     
OBS.: The CASE 1 informal use is very common in songs.  Here you have two examples:
- "If I was a rich girl..." GWEN STEFANi (click to watch)                     
- "If I was your vampire" MARILYN MANSON (click to watch)


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