I wish

Question

a. I wish it would stop raining.b. I wish it stopped raining.1. Are both correct?2. Does a say that I wish it stopped in the future, while b says that I wish it stopped now? Thanks

Cool Breeze · Accepted Answer

If the rain stops, it is bound to happen after you utter the sentence. Therefore I wish / If only it would stop raining is better.

But: I wish / If only I knew his address.

CB

English 1b3 · Answer

I see what you mean, but

I wish right now it stopped raining.

I wish right now I knew his address.

Can't he wish that it stopped raining at the time he wishes, even if the rain is unlikely to stop until after the utterance?

Yankee · Answer

If you use a simple past form after 'I wish', you would be referring to a state or a habitual sort of action:

1. I wish you didn't smoke. =
The speaker is talking to a smoker (i.e. someone who smokes habitually) and is unhappy about the other person's smoking habit. The speaker wants the other person to kick the habit -- to stop forever.

If you use 'would+infinitive' after "I wish', then you would be referring to a single current/future act or activity.

2. I wish you wouldn't smoke. =
This might be said if the speaker were with someone who was just about to light a cigarette or who had just lit a cigarette. What the speaker would actually be doing is asking the other person not to smoke at this particular moment. The speaker is not asking the other person to kick a smoking habit, but rather not to smoke right now.

Thus:

I wish it would stop raining. =
You are referring to a single bout of rainfall. You are unhappy about the fact that it is raining now and that the rain has not stopped yet. This is like example 2 above. You are not referring to all rainfall, all year, every year. Instead, you are referring only to the current rain activity and a single stop.

It is difficult to use 'stopped' after 'I wish' the way you are trying to do it because the reference would then have to be to some sort of habitual or stative sort of stop. However, you could use 'stopped' this way:

I wish the bus stopped closer to my job. =
In this case, the situation might be that you take the same bus to work every day, all year long, and because the bus has a fixed schedule and standard places it always stops, the reference here would be to habitual action. In this case, you are unhappy with the fact that the bus always stops so far from the place where you work.

I wish I knew his address.
'Knew' works in this case because 'know' is stative. It does not refer to a current activity. Instead it refers to a current state of being. You are in a state of not knowing his address and are unhappy about that.

English 1b3 · Answer

YankeeIf you use a simple past form after 'I wish', you would be referring to a state or a habitual sort of action:

What about this one, where it's neither habitual or a state:

I wish I killed her.

Yankee'Knew' works in this case because 'know' is stative

Thanks for your analysis. I would've thought 'knew' is used, because the past subjunctive is required, not the indicative.

Yankee · Answer

English 1b3I would've thought 'knew' is used, because the past subjunctive is required, not the indicative.

'Knew' is a subjunctive usage in that sentence. However, the verb 'know' is a stative verb, English1b3. The difference between stative and dynamic verbs after 'I wish' was the whole point of my last post. In order to use a verb that is not typically stative after 'I wish', you have to use it in such a way that the action referred to has a stative or habitual sort of meaning.

If you want more information on stative vs dynamic verbs, you can google that. You'll find sites like this one, for example:
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/progressive.htm

English 1b3I wish I killed her.

Time for you to put on your thinking cap, English 13b.

Is the verb 'kill' typically stative or dynamic?

Do you want the meaning of the verb 'kill' to talk about a single act in that sentence (i.e. dynamic)?
Or do you want the meaning of the verb 'kill' to reflect habitual (regularly repeated or constant) acts of killing somehow (i.e. stative)?

English 1b3 · Answer

I didn't abandon the post. I forgot about it. Sorry about that!

I understand what you mean. It's just unusual how any explanation about the verb wish I've come accross doesn't discuss stative and dynamic verbs. It simply says past subjunctive for present wishes and past perfect subjunctive for past wishes. Perhaps you're right that sites are catering for beginners, so they over-simplify.

YankeeIs the verb 'kill' typically stative or dynamic?

Dynamic.

Yankee
Do you want the meaning of the verb 'kill' to talk about a single act in that sentence (i.e. dynamic)?

I suppose I should say 'I wish I had killed her,' because the past subjunctive would make this stative, and I want to refer to one event. Is this correct?

Or "I wish I would kill her" for a present/future one time event?

English 1b3 · Answer

What about this below:

I wish you came with me.

It is simple past and yet it doesn't refer to a state or habitual act

I wish

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