Kooyeen  +  499447 Fri, 11 Apr 08 06:21 PM Hi, hold on a second! Are you guys saying that native speakers also use the simple past instead of the past perfect when they are talking about a hypothetical situation in the past? I didn't know that. Are you saying that native speakers often say "I wish I didn't do that" instead of "I wish I hadn't done that"? Thanks. Kooyeen Joined on Thu, Dec 22 2005 Italy Senior Member 4,969 Parental Advisory / Explicit Posts Past Perfect, Simple Past

	nona the brit  +  499450 Fri, 11 Apr 08 06:25 PM Not in the UK nona the brit Joined on Wed, Sep 22 2004 England Veteran Member 11,713 The name says it all.

	Kooyeen  +  499457 Fri, 11 Apr 08 06:36 PM nona the brit “Not in the UK” Oh! I thought in the UK everything was possible! I heard kinds of British English that I thought were German, lol. Anyway, it was GG's answer that got me thinking (--> "I wish I resigned" is ok). Kooyeen

	Sooris  +  499460 Fri, 11 Apr 08 06:43 PM Hadn't is correct. The sentence is in Subjuctive mood. Here we refer to an action that we should not have done. It is better if we say ' I wish I hadn't resigned'.   Thanks.  Sooris Joined on Tue, Sep 26 2006 chennai Full Member 121 Sureshbabu Padmanabahan

	Sooris  +  499461 Fri, 11 Apr 08 06:48 PM No, it cannot be I wish I resigned. The first sentence refers to an action that had been done. A man resigned before one week, and feels sorry about it now. So he says ' I wish I hadn't resigned'.      Let us now take a look at the second sentence. I wish I resigned. This expresses one's thought that he wants to resign. For example, your friends were terminated from a company, but you were asked to continue. You feel a lot about the loss of your friends and you say, 'I wish I resigned'.   How is it? Sooris    Sooris

	Grammar Geek  +  499466 Fri, 11 Apr 08 07:03 PM Hence, the "not in writing" comment. As you know, a lot of stuff is SAID that isn't correct. I'm also thinking that "I wish I'd resigned" is going to sound a LOT like "I wish I resigned" at the typical pace of American speech.       Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 19,652 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random!

	Kooyeen  +  499470 Fri, 11 Apr 08 07:14 PM Grammar Geek “As you know, a lot of stuff is SAID that isn't correct.” Ah, I didn't know that. Yeah, obviously "prescriptively wrong", but I've really never noticed that feature. Whether it's regional or not, I'll try to pay attention... even though, as you said, I'm afraid I'll have trouble realizing whether I actually hear that contracted 'd or not. Thanks! Kooyeen

	Grammar Geek  +  499485 Fri, 11 Apr 08 08:19 PM Kooyeen, you are going to KILL me with your strict beliefs that anything is said is okay, and saying it's not is being a prescriptivist oppressor of the people. Grammar Geek

	Yoong Liat  +  500593 Mon, 14 Apr 08 03:40 PM Hi Barbara I agree with you. Kooyeen very often says he prefers descriptive English. If we go for descriptive English, then a lot of things spoken by many native speakers which are wrong become acceptable. The purpose of this forum is more for prescriptive English, imho. Yoong Liat Joined on Mon, Sep 4 2006 Veteran Member 6,757