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hypercorrection with irrealis "were". The CGEL excerpt: Irrealis were and the preterite. The as if/though construction is one of those that allow irrealis were or a modal preterite. Where the matrix clause has present tense, we have the expected contrast in the content clause between were or modal preterite (e.g. "was" -- F.E.) and present tense:
"If it were running" is subjunctive case, used to describe hypothetical situations: "If it were running, I would stop it first, but it's already stopped." "If it was running" is a common corruption of subjunctive case, or, as described in the other questions, a way to express an option that occurred in the past.
There is one relatively uncommon place where you pretty much do have to use were not was in a conditional, and that is when you use inversion to forgo the word if altogether: Were [unreal] there any other way, we would have [unreal] found it. That’s the same as saying: If there were [unreal] any other way, we would have [unreal] found it. or ...
The phrase "as if she had been coming to this bar for years" refers to a counterfactual condition which, if it were true, would predate the action of walking up to the bar and greeting the bartender. The phrase "as if she were a regular" refers to a counterfactual condition which, if it were true, would be contemporaneous with the action of ...
Anyway, the point of view of the Cambridge Grammar of the English Language on the was vs. singular were phenomenon is that the choice is a matter of formality. This also explains why irrealis was doesn't go with inversions. Inversion is so formal that we just don't expect an informal expression in its immediate vicinity.
A classmate and I were the first students becomes I was the first student (correct). A classmate and me were the first students becomes Me was the first student (incorrect). When you add the classmate back into the sentence, you can be assured of the proper pronoun (I, not me).
The subjunctive were is used for a.) counterfactuals: If I were rich... (but I'm not rich). Your text contains one example of the counterfactual in the sentence: If it were not clear that she is determined to move away from this area... (but it is clear that she wants to move away).
In American English, however, were is required in hypothetical sentences like these, rather than was. For detailed answers to your question, please see “If I was” or “If I were”. Which is more common, and which is correct?. (But only one answer there, not high rated, mentions BE vs AE.)
The Justice Secretary said prosecutors were allowed to join the event. The first alternative should be used if no new participants are allowed after the event started at 9am, which might be the case here.
Actually the Corpus of Contemporary American English reports that "pair were" is alive and well in the US: 95/71 for "was"/"were" respectively. And eliminating irrelevant entries (e.g. this coin and the Smithsonian's pair were; if the pair were competing; a newly hired au pair was scheduled to...; and especially one of each pair was...