ESL Linguistics Discussion Forum

Re: I wish I was/were there

Yankee — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:39:46 GMT

Do you have a question, Anon?
.

Re: I wish I was/were there

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:36:03 GMT

The story of a recent soccer game between the New England Revolution and the Tampa Bay Mutiny was buried near the back of the newspaper's sports section, and there was certainly no television coverage."

Re: I wish I was/were there

CalifJim — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 21:26:13 GMT

I wish I was here!

Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.

Re: I wish I was/were there

Anonymous — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 22:46:17 GMT

I wish I WERE there.

Re: I wish I was/were there

Anonymous — Sat, 10 May 2008 01:29:38 GMT

i wish i were there

Re: I wish I was/were there

Anonymous — Tue, 06 May 2008 03:17:41 GMT

I wish I were there.

Re: I wish I was/were there

MrPedantic — Mon, 05 May 2008 22:01:06 GMT

I'm afraid those numbers are a little misleading, Anon. If you go to the last returnable page for "If I were", you'll see this message:

In order to show you the most relevant results, we have omitted some entries very similar to the 955 already displayed.

Similarly, for "if I was":

In order to show you the most relevant results, we have omitted some entries very similar to the 921 already displayed.

Which in google means "those 25m / 3m examples are mostly duplicates or near-duplicates".

Moreover, the search doesn't allow us to distinguish between pseudo-subjunctive uses of "if I was" (If I was you, I'd buy a new car) and indicative uses (If I was rude, I apologise). In the latter case, it isn't possible to substitute "if I were".

Best wishes,

MrP

Re: I wish I was/were there

Anonymous — Sun, 04 May 2008 21:50:45 GMT

Look at the result from the post of
ranchhand #110197 Sat, 18 Jun 05 04:35 AM

Googled: Results 1 - 10 of about 5,060,000 English pages for "if I were".
Googled: Results 1 - 10 of about 3,560,000 English pages for "if I was".

This is the result from today
Results 1 - 10 of about 3,100,000 for "if I was"
Results 1 - 10 of about 25,400,000 for "if I were"

I belive this changes in the result is because there are many high skilled paid writer (not like me :) ) write in blogs, wordpress, and many publishing websites.

When you see a mirror, dont forget to smile :)
Lior

Re: I wish I was/were there

MrPedantic — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 22:01:26 GMT

I'm not so sure, Anon. I find that BrE speakers often use a counterfactual "was" in practical contexts, or contexts where the possibility is "closed", and a counterfactual "were" in more speculative or "open" contexts.

MrP

Re: I wish I was/were there

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 01:17:54 GMT

Were it not for the demise of grammar!Â

"I were" is PAST tense SUBJUNCTIVE mood.Â

Â "I was" is PAST tense INDICATIVE mood.Â

The subjunctive is used to express a counterfactual statement, a possibility, or express a wish. Therefore, "I wish I were there" is grammatically correct, in this context.Â

"I was there" is used to express past tense, such as "I was there at the correct time".Â

The subjunctive reply might be "If that were true, I would have seen you".Â

Or, consider the following more appropriate subjunctive than indicative moods; Â

So be it. (imperative = It is)

Re: I wish I was/were there

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 23:45:12 GMT

i wish i was there.

Re: I wish I was/were there

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:48:13 GMT

I wish I were there is correct

Re: I wish I was/were there

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 22:05:47 GMT

Guest
Which is grammatically correct and why:

I wish I were there.

OR

I wish I was there.

Re: I wish I was/were there

Alienvoord — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:39:13 GMT

present possible condition: If I am
past possible condition: If I was

present counterfactual condition: if I were/was
past counterfactual condition: if I had been

If using "was" in counterfactual clauses is wrong, then many good writers of English are wrong. I prefer to trust the judgment of good writers on what constitutes good writing.

I wish my cold hand was in the warmest place about you - Jonathan Swift, Journal to Stella, 5 Feb 1711

I wish H. was not quite so fat - Lord Byron, letter, 8 Dec. 1811

I wish I was six feet tall and I wouldn't mind if I was handsome - And More by Andy Rooney, 1982

Some writers use both <i>was</i> and <i>were</i> close together.

...and all staring, gravely, as if it were a funeral, at me as if I was the coffin - Henry Adams, letter, 15 May 1859

Re: I wish I was/were there

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:38:27 GMT

present possible condition: If I am
past possible condition: If I was

present counterfactual condition: if I were/was
past counterfactual condition: if I had been

If using "was" in counterfactual clauses is wrong, then many good writers of English are wrong. I prefer to trust the judgment of good writers on what constitutes good writing.