WERE + someone/something +TO do something = a part of a formal conditional clause. We can use this inversion to describe things that are not real or are probably not going to happen. Notice that ‘would‘ is in the main clause.
Were you to handle this problem on your own, there would be no doubt you’re the kind of man we want.
This example is not about the past. It is about future arrangements expressed with BE TO structure:
If you are to…
The back shift of this structure:
If you were to… (unlikely)
Compare the ‘normal’ present tense:
If you (are able to) handle the problem on your own, there is no doubt… = I believe you can do it. You will probably solve the problem and as a result, get hired for the job.
Sadly, a search for
. were _P to _VVI
in iWeb has no results. Removing the period then gives us misleading results because they can be preceded by a subject.
1 WERE ANYTHING TO GO 102 (most of these are ‘if subject were anything to go by’)
2 WERE NOTHING TO WRITE 98 (this probably is not inverted ‘they were’)
3 WERE WE TO KNOW 71 (most of these are questions such as ‘How were we to know?’)
4 WERE IT TO HAPPEN 56
*most of these are the grammar we are searching for.
iMore
5 WERE THEY TO KNOW 45
6 WERE I TO GIVE 42
7 WERE SOMETHING TO BEHOLD 41
8 WERE I TO GO 39
9 WERE I TO USE 36
10 WERE IT TO GO 34
11 WERE YOU TO KNOW 34
12 WERE YOU TO TAKE 33
13 WERE NOTHING TO WORRY 33
14 WERE PLENTY TO CHOOSE 32
15 WERE THEY TO GET 31
16 WERE IT TO BECOME 31
17 WERE HE TO BECOME 28
18 WERE THEY TO GO 28
19 WERE WE TO TAKE 27
20 WERE HE TO MAKE 27
21 WERE I TO MAKE 27
22 WERE I TO SAY 26
23 WERE IT TO OCCUR 25
24 WERE I TO TAKE 25
25 WERE HE TO WIN 24
26 WERE THEY TO COME 24
27 WERE THEY TO SEE 23
28 WERE IT TO COME 22
29 WERE HE TO RETURN 22
30 WERE WE TO GO 22
31 WERE WE TO SAY 22
32 WERE WE TO MAKE 21
33 WERE I TO ATTEMPT 21
34 WERE NOTHING TO BRAG 19
35 WERE HE TO LEAVE 19
36 WERE HE TO GET 19
37 WERE I TO GET 19
38 WERE THEY TO BECOME 19
39 WERE WE TO GET 19
40 WERE WE TO FIND 18
41 WERE THEY TO FIND 18
42 WERE THEY TO LOSE 18
43 WERE YOU TO SEND 17
44 WERE THEY TO MAKE 17
45 WERE I TO BUY 17
46 WERE HE TO DIE 17
47 WERE MINE TO MAKE 16
48 WERE IT TO EXIST 16
49 WERE I TO LIVE 16
50 WERE NOTHING TO SNEEZE 16