"I wish there was" or "I wish there were?"

Both are possible I think

If you are wishing for something, that means it does not exist. So you should use the subjunctive in "good" English: I wish there were justice in this world (there isn't), I wish Mr. X were the president (he isn't), I wish there were not so many bad people (there are). But many native speakers use "was" because they do not know the rule or they do not wish to follow the rule.

AnonymousI wish there were someone who knows what I mean when..

Actually, if I were you, I think I'd be just as concerned about the form of the other verbs in the sentence. I'd make them subjunctive as well. I would write the sentence this way:

- I wish there were someone who knew what I meant when...

Saying "I wish there were

AnonymousIf you are wishing for something, that means it does not exist. So you should use the subjunctive in "good" English

Does that mean when we're wishing for something that does exist, we use 'was'? Like, I wish I was a rich man. ... But I'm not. Oh wait I see what you mean. I think.

Are you saying that everything you wish for is something that

From what I understand (due to grammar learned in spanish class!) when something is unknown/doesn't exist you use subjunctive. So yes, you use subjunctive for every wish that you have, because a wish means it doesn't exist at the moment. Even though dogs exist, i don't have a dog at the moment, so I would say "I wish I were a dog-owner" even though the concept of a dog-owner is a certain thing.

I wish there were is correct

I wish I "were" there is correct!! It's an ideal situation. Using "was" may be correct too, but sounds like past tense, not the real thing.

I

wish there were