Hello again.
In an old notepad I've read about "wish clauses" (I don't know if it's the real name for this) and I'd like to know more about it.
Ex1: I don't have a Ferrari
I wish I had a Ferrari
Ex2: Paul didn't go to the cinema
Paul wishes he had gone to the cinema
Ex3: He isn't her boyfriend
She wishes he were her boyfriend
How does it work? How's the structure which rules this grammar point?
Can anyone help me?
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4 comments:
In my notepad is written "Corresponderia em Português a Orações Optativas, ou seja, sempre há o desejo de se ter o que não se tem ou ser o que não se é" and it didn't help me.
Ohh, there's another one: On the third example is written "he were". Why was "were" used?
Ok I think it's all for a while.
Hi Valmon!
It works like this:
If you're talking about a situation in the present, you have to use WISH + Past SIMPLE
E.g.
I DON'T HAVE a car (present situation)
I WISH I HAD one.
If you're talking about a past situation, then you have to use WISH + PAST PERFECT
E.g.
I DIDN'T go to the party last Sunday.
I WISH I HAD GONE to the party.
Every time you use WISH with verb TO BE, the correct form is WERE.
I WISH I WERE
I WISH he WERE
She WISHES she WERE, etc.
However, in every day English, people speak "She wishes she was..."
See you!
To talk about the future you also have to use the structure WISH + Past subjunctive in such cases as:
¨We wish tomorrow were Sunday."
However, in other situations, in order to express a frustrated wish in relation to the future time, we would need to use WISH + WOULD :
Example:
I'm going to travel back to my home town only next year, but I wish I would get back there much sooner than that.
Keep on blogging!
Thanks guys!
It will help a lot.
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