Why "was yesterday"?

[Tina]

English Language Tests, Intermediate level

ESL/EFL Test #214 "What comes next (the letter)", question 4

I remember it as if it ..........

(a) is yesterday
(b) would be yesterday
(c) could be yesterday
(d) was yesterday

English Language Tests, Intermediate level

ESL/EFL Test #214 "What comes next (the letter)", answer 4

I remember it as if it was yesterday.

Correct answer: (d) was yesterday
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could you explain this answer
Why "was yesterday"?

Tina

[Alan]

Hi Tina,

We need was because of yesterday suggesting that it happened in the past.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Read the Signs...

[Haihao]

Hi Alan,

Of course was was the only choice for the test but should I think were would be a better one if it were here?

haihao

[Alan]

Hi,

I assume you mean that the sentence should read: as if it 'were' yesterday. I don't think this is really a case of being better but rather it is an alternative. The use of the subjunctive instead of the indicative form is slowly dying out. The point is that the past subjunctive cannot really be distinguished from the past indicative except in the verb 'be'. That's why we call this form the 'unreal past'. It is becoming more and more common to say: if I was you instead of if I were you. You might like to have a look at the piece I've written for the site on the subjunctive:

English Grammar: Subjunctive
http://www.english-test.net/lessons/15/index.html

A
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English as a Foreign Language
You can read my EFL story Here comes 2004...