When using be in an if clause for an unreal conditional sentence, always conjugate it as were, no matter what the subject is. Even if the subject is first-person singular (I) or third-person singular (he, she, or it), still use were with an if clause in unreal conditional sentences.
If I were* smarter
When using be in an if clause for an unreal conditional sentence, always conjugate it as were, no matter what the subject is. Even if the subject is first-person singular (I) or third-person singular (he, she, or it), still use were with an if clause in unreal conditional sentences.
https://www.grammarly.com/blog/conditional-sentences-was-instead-of-were/
TIL: This is an artefact of my regional dialect. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/language-variation-and-change/article/abs/new-role-for-an-ancient-variable-in-appalachia-paradigm-leveling-and-standardization-in-west-virginia/3F069F1A76FBFFB75566131FB9D955C9 Apparently, the leveled was is a thing.