English Grammar
Are the "I wish" or "would that" sentences imperative? Or are they optative? For example: Would that I were a millionaire. or, I wish I had his mobile phone number
Top answer
They are optative. Note that they are a very small class of sentences in English, however, and grammarians are not very interested in them because they have little about them that is interesting from a grammatical point of view. Unlike languages like Turkish, Navajo, Armenian, or Georgian, English has no optative mood, or at least no way of marking it grammatically.
- They are optative.
- Note that they are a very small class of sentences in English, however, and grammarians are not very interested in them because they have little about them that is interesting from a grammatical point of view.
- Unlike languages like Turkish, Navajo, Armenian, or Georgian, English has no optative mood, or at least no way of marking it grammatically.
- They are classified in English according to other factors as, for example, declarative or exclamatory.
- More examples: May you have a long, successful life!
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They are optative.
Note that they are a very small class of sentences in English, however, and grammarians are not very interested in them because they have little about them that is interesting from a grammatical point of view. Unlike languages like Turkish, Navajo, Armenian, or Georgian, English has no optative mood, or at least no way of marking it grammatically. They are classifie
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