Job Discussion Forums

[Canuck1]

I have a small question that I hope has an answer. Is there any situation where it is correct to use 'was' with I, he, she or it after I wish?
I thought I read something about that last year, but I can't remember for sure. Any thoughts?

[Capergirl]

I believe there is a use for "was" in that context. It has something to do with possibility vs. impossibility or unlikelihood (I think).
For example: I wish I were a millionaire. (not very likely)
I wish I was back in Canada. (very possible or likely)

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, please. I'm only on my first coffee and I have to go look this up to get a good explanation.

[dduck]

[Corey]

Caper, as far as I know you can't say "I wish I was...",

but yes, you can say "I wish I were.." or "I wish he was..."

Unreal past.

Corey

[NumberOneSon]

[Stephen Jones]

"I wish this test wasn't so difficult!" would be common in British English. The Americans tend to hang on to the subjunctive more.

I do not believe thare is any semantic difference between "I wish he were here" and "I wish he was here". It's a matter of individual choice, heavily affected by the geographical origin of the speaker, and possibly marginally affected by the register.

[guest of Japan]

Mr. Jones always explains the grammar so well. I wish he was/were to write a grammar guide.

[Cobra]

NEWS FLASH!!

It really does not matter!

If you do not understand the simplicity of this post then you prove the point of this post.

[Corey]

Yes I suppose it doesn't matter if you don't care about teaching students correctly.

[Celeste]

Though "I wish I were ..." is grammatically correct, "I wish I was is common in colloquial spoken English. In fact, I was rather surprised to read "I wish I was.." listed as common usage in a grammar book I was teaching from about a year and a half ago(Focus on Grammar by Marjorie Fuchs). I would recommend teaching the "I wish I were.." form to your students and mentioning that they may hear the other form spoken at times, but that they should not WRITE it, especially on a test such as TOEFL or Cambridge.

[leeroy]

I suppose this whole thing links up with 2nd conditionals..

If I was the president I'd sort out the economy

If I were the president...

Hmm. Seems the same to me, although it's undoubtedly culture specific.

But although you say "If I were you", you wouldn't say "If I was you".

(In fact, lower class people in the UK do say that - it's not something I'd teach my students.)

What about other pronouns?

I wish he were here (OK)
I wish he was here (Well, sounds OK to me...)

but

I wish you was here (no).

Dammit. Where's Bertrand? Perhaps we should teach it all lexically and be done with it.

[j-ang]

Here's my two cents worth.
Technically, traditionally, historically I believe that the subjuctive 'were' is
considered correct due to the uncertainty/possibility factor.
BUT
Because some people have not been able to get past the "with 'I' we use
'was'" block, 'was' is becoming acceptable, at least in (informal) speech.
SO
I agree with Cobra that it doesn't really matter, or at least it matters less
and less.
Language, as we all have heard many times, is a living, changing thing.
Here's proof.

[khmerhit]

I'll take CaperGirl's explanation. It is nuanced, flexible and logical.

BTW, my sister teaches school. She says there are children in grade 6 (age 12) who do not know their times tables. Apparently this is increasingly common. They rely on electronic calculators to do their sums. What is worse, she reports that there is an ethos that defends this practice because to force children to learn their times tables is "too strict and demanding" or words to that effect. No frigging wonder that the private schools are growing.

Similarly, if we were to allow the subjunctive to fade away because

[JohnBleazard]

Sorry - but I have to disagree with all of you. Based on Latin and other related languages such as German and Italian, spoken in cultures where people take pride in speaking (grammatically) correctly, the use of the subjunctive is triggered (among other things) by a "contrary to fact" condition:

If I were the president... because I am NOT the president. It is contrary to fact.

It is typical of linguists to want to excuse away ignorance of grammar by saying the language is a living, developing thing. Germans, for example, have been using essentially the same grammar for 500 years now because they care enough to maintain the language and they take the time and trouble to learn and teach it properly. Yet German changes and grows and develops in time, but it does not waterdown its grammar. Same can be said for French, Italian, Spanish, virtually all languages spoken by culturally homogenous, proud people.

I agree with the person who compared not learning English grammar to not learning the multiplication tables. American teachers long ago gave up on teaching grammar, and now this with the math. I guess they are so busy dodging bullets...literally...that they don't have the energy to take on the multiplcation tables anymore.

Sadly, there are no "calculators" to help kids determine proper grammar and usage. We are their last hope.

[Capergirl]

After having had a chance to do some research on this question today, I would now like to contradict my original posting on this thread (sorry, Khmerhit ). I have not found any proof that "I wish I was" is ever correct, except in "informal English" - in other words, slang. So the phrase "I wish I were" is always grammatically correct in formal English (which is what we are hopefully teaching our students).

Khmerhit, I am with you on the times tables thing. I also don't like the "new math" they have around here. I'm not sure how it works exactly, but it involves a system of counting on one's fingers as opposed to doing longhand equations. I really think our school system (in Canada, at least) is seriously dumbing down and it is going to come back to bite us in the collective a*s later on. The "whole language" concept is another one I abhor. For a brief time here in Nova Scotia, they got rid of phonics and spelling in the language arts classes (and also relaxed the grammar rules) in lieu of this whole language approach. When it became evident that children were not only unable to read and write but also unable to spell or recognize common written words, there was a rapid-fire switch back to the "old" methods. I can't speak for other parents, but I know that I don't want my daughter to be spoon-fed in school. She is just as capable of learning the times tables, longhand math, phonics, spelling, and grammar as I was. But hey, let's put them all on ritalin and stick calculators in their little hands, right?