linguaholic Posted January 16, 2014 Report Posted January 16, 2014 What is correct? I wish I was or I wish I were? Or maybe both of them are possible? I would be glad if someone could explain this to me and maybe provide a sample sentence or two. Thank you! Quote
Peninha Posted January 16, 2014 Report Posted January 16, 2014 I am not a native, but it seems to me that "I wish I was" it's correct because it's singular, while "I wish I were" it's incorrect because it's plural. Interesting, I just searched the net for confirmation and... OK, it's highly unclear. I am going to have to study this article before I can say lol!http://www.dailywritingtips.com/i-wish-i-were/ Quote
linguaholic Posted January 16, 2014 Author Report Posted January 16, 2014 I am not a native, but it seems to me that "I wish I was" it's correct because it's singular, while "I wish I were" it's incorrect because it's plural. Interesting, I just searched the net for confirmation and... OK, it's highly unclear. I am going to have to study this article before I can say lol!http://www.dailywritingtips.com/i-wish-i-were/I get your point Peninha, However I still think it should be "I wish I were" because the were is used to express the "conditional" here. We might get some opinions of some native-speakers soon..I'm curious to hear about everyone's opinion. Quote
Daimashin Posted January 16, 2014 Report Posted January 16, 2014 Since you wish, the correct choice is "I wish I were" because wish is an indication that you want something that is not there, and not possible. Always use "were" when accompanying "wish". Use "was" for indicating something that has happened or exists now. Example: I wish I were you so that I'll be as rich as you. (You're not him). If I was a jerk, I apologise. (Indicating that I was a jerk)I don't know how correct that is but that was how I was thought back at school. Quote
Rosa Posted January 16, 2014 Report Posted January 16, 2014 You are perfectly right Daimashin. I need not explain any further, just confirm. Hope they got it. Quote
True2marie Posted January 17, 2014 Report Posted January 17, 2014 In general, "I wish I were" is correct. But, the usage is dependent on the tense. So, you have to read the sentence you're writing out loud or listen to your words in order to be correct. Quote
Peninha Posted January 17, 2014 Report Posted January 17, 2014 Since you wish, the correct choice is "I wish I were" because wish is an indication that you want something that is not there, and not possible. Always use "were" when accompanying "wish". Use "was" for indicating something that has happened or exists now. Example: I wish I were you so that I'll be as rich as you. (You're not him). If I was a jerk, I apologise. (Indicating that I was a jerk)I don't know how correct that is but that was how I was thought back at school. Good explanation! So with wish it's always were, regardless of the tense, was is always in the past, is this correct? Quote
Daimashin Posted January 17, 2014 Report Posted January 17, 2014 Good explanation! So with wish it's always were, regardless of the tense, was is always in the past, is this correct?More or less like that. "Was" is the past tense that shows that something indeed is true, or has happened while "were" is something that's not going to happen, hence I wish. Of course, I'm talking about them in this particular context. Quote
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