Jane,

I think your friend's copy-editor is flat out wrong. In my experience the
great majority of publishers and publications specify "were" for the
contrafactual ("Howard felt as if he were entering a baronial fiefdom") and
"was" for the possible factual ("I can't remember if he was at my birthday
party"). If I were (not *was*) you, I'd tell my friend to get a new
copy-editor.

Dick



On Fri, Sep 9, 2011 at 10:54 AM, Jane Saral <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> A friend is nearing the end of writing a book and writes me:
>
> I have been going over my manuscript with a fine-toothed comb.  I paid a
> copy editor to correct the punctuation and usage, and today I  subscribed to
> the "Chicago Manual of Style" on line, for a 30 day trial.  But I have been
> finding inconsistencies in the copy editor's changes that the style manual
> doesn't exactly answer.  Right now I stuck on the use of "was" or "were"
> after an "if."  I always thought that it was the subjunctive and should be
> "if I were," etc.  However, the copy editor has changed my "were" every
> time.  Here's an example of his change: "Every time he drove up the winding
> driveway, Howard felt as if he was entering a baronial fiefdom."  Do you
> have any idea what the current usage is?  I'm very confused so if you have a
> clue, let me know.
>
> I too would use the subjunctive (when it's contrary-to-fact).  What
> should I tell my friend?
>
> Jane
>

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