Had or did? Or both?

Question

Which of the three variants is correct and why the two others are not?

1. If you say that something should have happened, you mean that it had not happened, but that you wish it had.
2. If you say that something should have happened, you mean that it did not happen, but that you wish it had.
3. If you say that something should have happened, you mean that it did not happen, but that you wish it did.

Wilpeter · Accepted Answer

Anonymous1. If you say that something should have happened, you mean that it had not happened, but that you wish it had.

1. “had not happened” would be suitable following “something was to have happened,”

Anonymous3. If you say that something should have happened, you mean that it did not happen, but that you wish it did.

3. “you wish that it did” is not grammatically correct.

Anonymous2. If you say that something should have happened, you mean that it did not happen, but that you wish it had.

2. Is more nearly correct.
“If you say that something should have happened, you mean that it did not happen, but you wish it had.” (“that” is not repeated within the response) Also, “wish” is not necessarily what you were saying, because “should” is more of an expectation based on un unknown factor at this time. The final clause then would be “but you thought it would.”

Example 4: An earthquake was predicted for yesterday by experts. There was still no evidence of there having been an earthquake today. Possibly, the earthquake was totally underground and the tremor was not obvious to us. So, it should have happened, because it was predicted. (So far, we still aren’t sure if it actually did happen.) We don’t necessarily wish it had happened, but we thought it would have.

Example 5: Your cousin turned 90 two days ago and the family assumed there would be a party. You planned to go, but there was no party. So, it should have happened, but it did not happen and you wish it had.

“If you say that you wanted something to happen, you mean that it may have or may not have happened, but you wish it had.”

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousWhich of the three variants is correct

2 is correct.

You need 'wish it had' if you're wishing about the past. That's how the verb 'wish' works. That eliminates 3.
'happened' is not before 'should have happened' in time. They are both at the same time in the past. Therefore there is nothing that justifies the use of 'had not happened', which is before 'should have'. That eliminates 1.

Same time: should have happened - did not happen
Different times: should have happened (later) - had not happened (earlier)

CJ

Had or did? Or both?

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