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Sb70012 Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
He wishes he accepted / had accepted the job
Hello,
I have asked this question in two forums and native English speakers have answered my question too but I have not understood their answers. That's why I decided to ask it here too so that your answer may be more clarified than theirs.
He wishes he …….the job when it was offered to him.
a. accepted
b. had accepted (Answer Key)
c. was accepting
d. was accepted
Source: school exam
I have problem with understanding this test. I say to myself that option A (accepted) should be the correct answer not option B. This is my analysis:
1. He wishes he accepted the job when it was offered to him.
(Ok to me because both 'offering' and 'accepting' have happened at the same time in the past)
2. He wishes he had accepted the job when it was offered to him.
(Not ok to me because the sentence means 'he wanted to accept the job before it was going to be offered' so it does not make sense. The act of accepting should be after the act of offering not before offering.)
Would you please give me some guidance on this test?
Thank you
I have asked this question in two forums and native English speakers have answered my question too but I have not understood their answers. That's why I decided to ask it here too so that your answer may be more clarified than theirs.
He wishes he …….the job when it was offered to him.
a. accepted
b. had accepted (Answer Key)
c. was accepting
d. was accepted
Source: school exam
I have problem with understanding this test. I say to myself that option A (accepted) should be the correct answer not option B. This is my analysis:
1. He wishes he accepted the job when it was offered to him.
(Ok to me because both 'offering' and 'accepting' have happened at the same time in the past)
2. He wishes he had accepted the job when it was offered to him.
(Not ok to me because the sentence means 'he wanted to accept the job before it was going to be offered' so it does not make sense. The act of accepting should be after the act of offering not before offering.)
Would you please give me some guidance on this test?
Thank you
Top answer
He did not accept the job. Therefore, any talk about acceptance is counterfactual. For present-time counterfactual situations, we use a past tense to indicate the counterfactuality (irrealis): I have no job.
- He did not accept the job.
- Therefore, any talk about acceptance is counterfactual.
- For present-time counterfactual situations, we use a past tense to indicate the counterfactuality (irrealis): I have no job.
- If I h ad a job, I would be happy.
- I wish I had a job.
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1 Answers
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He did not accept the job. Therefore, any talk about acceptance is counterfactual. For present-time counterfactual situations, we use a past tense to indicate the counterfactuality (irrealis):
I have no job. If I had a job, I would be happy. I wish I had a job.
For past-time counterfactual situations we use a past perfect to indicate the past counterfactualiy
I have no job. If I had a job, I would be happy. I wish I had a job.
For past-time counterfactual situations we use a past perfect to indicate the past counterfactualiy
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