Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2024 September 25

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September 25

Is this an error of style?

This is an excerpt from my version of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (I have the audiobook read by Stephen Fry): "... as though this was the signal Harry had been waiting for, he jumped to his feet, at the same time pulling from the waist-band of his jeans a thin wooden wand as if he were unsheathing a sword."

Is there a reason why 'was' is used in the first bolded bit and 'were' in the second bolded bit? Would this be considered an error of style? 150.203.2.213 (talk) 06:13, 25 September 2024 (UTC)

Here's an extensive discussion on was vs. were.[1] However, from reading it, I'm not sure what the answer to your question is. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 07:10, 25 September 2024 (UTC)

I guess that the signal could be considered actual, and the sword fictional, if I am to hazard a guess. For what it's worth. 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 11:01, 25 September 2024 (UTC)

Ohh okay, I can see how that might motivate the difference. Thank you! 150.203.2.213 (talk) 12:04, 25 September 2024 (UTC)

Some stylists recommend not repeating a formula in close proximity, except when done to achieve a rhetorical effect.  --Lambiam 13:18, 25 September 2024 (UTC)

Sure, but this case is akin to using "He and I did ..." in one place, and "Me and him did ..." in another. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 17:48, 26 September 2024 (UTC)

Not really. The subjunctive is dying out, and it's not reasonable to call every instance of "if I was..." an error. --Viennese Waltz 18:01, 26 September 2024 (UTC)

It might still feel a bit off to use the subjunctive seemingly randomly. 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 19:05, 26 September 2024 (UTC)

The issue that bothered the OP may be the intermingled use of was and were. Had the quoted fragment started with "... as though this were the signal ...", I surmise it would not have engendered the raising of even a single bushy brow.  --Lambiam 08:13, 27 September 2024 (UTC)