should

English translation: No

10:08 May 10, 2002

English language (monolingual) [PRO]

English term or phrase: should

Hi.
Can should replace the hyphens in the following sentence?
I wish something --- have been so and so.
Are there any options to fill the space with, besides "could" and "would" ? thank you.

ident

Selected answer:No

Explanation:
You cannot have "I wish" plus "should".

You can say "It should" or "I wish (that) X had ...".

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Note added at 2002-05-10 10:26:22 (GMT)
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For your sentence, it should (!) therefore read \"I whish it had been so and so\".

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Note added at 2002-05-10 10:26:40 (GMT)
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For \"whish\" read \"wish\"!!

Selected response from:

Jan Liebelt
France
Local time: 20:22

Grading comment

4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

4 +12

Jan Liebelt

would/could

RHELLER

Answers

16 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +12

Jan Liebelt
France
Local time: 20:22
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 12

1 hr confidence:

would/could

Explanation:
UNREAL PAST
The past tense is sometimes used in English to refer to an 'unreal' situation. So, although the tense is the past, we are usually talking about the present, e.g. in a Type 2 conditional sentence: after the verb 'to wish';
The verb to wishThe verb to wish is followed by an 'unreal' past tense when we want to talk about situations in the present that we are not happy about but cannot change:
§ I wish I had more money (=but I haven't)
§ She wishes she was beautiful (= but she's not)
§ We wish we could come to your party (but we can't)
When we want to talk about situations in the past that we are not happy about or actions that we regret, we use the verb to wish followed by the past perfect:
§ I wish I hadn't said that (= but I did)
§ He wishes he hadn't bought the car (= but he did buy it.)
§ I wish I had taken that job in New York (= but I didn't, so I'm stuck in Bristol)
NOTE: When we want to talk about situations we are not happy about and where we want someone else to change them, we use to wish followed by would + infinitive:
§ I wish he would stop smoking. (= I don't like it, I want him to change it)
§ I wish you would go away. (= I don't want you here, I want you to take some action)
§ I wish you wouldn't squeeze

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Note added at 2002-05-10 19:09:30 (GMT)
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another source:
http://www.bartleby.com/64/C001/061.html
subjunctive after wish. Yet another traditional rule requires you to use were rather than was in a contrary-to-fact statement that follows the verb wish: I wish I were (not was) lighter on my feet. Many writers continue to insist on this rule, but the indicative was in such clauses can be found in the works of many well-known writers.

Reference: http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/IF10.cfm

RHELLER
United States
Local time: 12:22
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 1252

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