“If it was not cold, I would like more” — conditional

Question

Now I'm having hard time on something.

I ate something yesterday and it was cold. Now grammatically, it must be

If it was not cold, I would like it more.

But I feel like it does not sound right, just because of 'like'. Is this correct?

Answer 1

There are two other ways of saying what you want said. The first point to consider, however, is that you ate whatever IT was yesterday, so your sentence has to be in the past tense.

If it had not been cold, I would have liked it more. [This is educated English.]

Had it not been cold, I would have liked it more. [This is formal English. Not generally used when speaking because it's normally too formal, but if you're speaking to someone wearing a tuxedo or a morning coat, it's perfectly appropriate. It's also appropriate for formal writing, but I doubt that there are many contexts in which such formality is called for.]

Your feeling that your sentence is grammatically incorrect because of like is a proper feeling, because like should be liked.

Answer 2

I believe this is a question of subjunctive verb moods. When deciding to use 'were' vs. 'was' (verb for 'to be') you need to think about the mood you're trying to communicate. In your example, you're talking about something that isn't true in a wishful tone: the food was too cold for your liking, ie. you wish it had been warmer.

Therefore 'were' is the correct subjunctive because were is used to communicate a wish for something.

"I wish I were more perceptive."

Same thing applies to your case.

"If it weren't so cold, I'd like it more."

is the correct way to phrase it.

You use 'was' when talking about something certain, factual, or likely.

"I was sick last week"

"Bill was going to come over, but he couldn't make it."

You can also rephrase your sentence to use 'was' - can you see why, in this example, 'was' is correct? (hint: 'was' = factual, ie. something that has happened already)

"The dish was cold, so I didn't like it"

Answer 3

It doesn’t sound right because if it is something that you are experiencing in the present, something you are eating right now, then it should be more like this:

• If it weren’t so cold, I’d like it more. (spoken)
• If it were not so cold, I would like it more. (uncontracted)

Whereas if it is something that has already occurred, something that we ate yesterday or last week or whatnot, then it should be more like this:

• If it hadn’t been so cold, I’d’ve liked it more. (spoken)
• If it had not been so cold, I would have liked it more. (uncontracted)