We all know Gwen Stefani would love to be a rich girl, but no amount of wealth is going to help her fix the blatant grammar mistake she makes in her famous, “Rich Girl” song.

Question: Should Gwen be singing, “if i was a rich girl” or “if i were a rich girl?”

Were vs Was

Dropdown WereWas

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Answer: If I were a rich girl!

Why?

We’re talking about the subjunctive mood now, and all that means is: if a verb is expressing an action or a state that is not reality, it would be considered to be in the subjunctive mood. For example, saying that if you were rich implies you are not rich now, and therefore that is not reality.

So, in this instance, Gwen is expressing a want for a reality that does not exist. For that reason the verb should be expressed in the subjunctive, and the song should go as “If I were a rich girl.”

A easier way to remember this, is that if the sentence starts with, “If” it should always be followed by “were.”

However, we can just keep jamming out to it as it is.

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