Comments on: Building Blocks of English XIII: Verb Mood http://grammarsource.com/2007/12/12/building-blocks-of-english-xiii-verb-mood/ Bring your curiosity and questions about English and let's find answers Tue, 02 Aug 2011 10:37:58 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Danahttp://grammarsource.com/2007/12/12/building-blocks-of-english-xiii-verb-mood/comment-page-1/#comment-299 Dana Fri, 14 Dec 2007 18:44:25 +0000 http://grammarsucks.com/building-blocks-of-english-xiii-verb-mood.htm#comment-299 The song from the musical uses the proper form of the verb (<a href="http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/fiddlerontheroof/ifiwerearichman.htm" rel="nofollow">lyrics to "If I Were a Rich Man</a>) but when Gwen Stefani co-opted the lyrics for her own "Rich Girl," she changed the verb to "was."Gwen got a lot of flak for using the counterfactual conditional, but so much because she employed the wrong verb form; rather, it's not exactly hypothetical since she's quite wealthy. The song from the musical uses the proper form of the verb (lyrics to “If I Were a Rich Man) but when Gwen Stefani co-opted the lyrics for her own “Rich Girl,” she changed the verb to “was.”

Gwen got a lot of flak for using the counterfactual conditional, but so much because she employed the wrong verb form; rather, it’s not exactly hypothetical since she’s quite wealthy.

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