The verb 'To Wish'

Question

Any teachers out there, How would you have dealt with this problem?
I had just explained 'Wish + past simple to express regret about a present/future situation
I wish I spoke English
I wish I were rich
I wish I had a million dollars etc....
On asking my students to write some sentences, one student wrote
I wish I went to America
I explained she should say "I wish I could go to America"
but I was unable to explain why!!
Any offers of an explanation
Thanks

Fandorin · Accepted Answer

Hi. Welcome to English Forums.
I'm not a guru, just make a try. As for me, I wish..I did-construction is used for situations and statements in present.Construction suggests that something is not as we would like it to be. However, the student's sentence sounds right to me.

I wish I went... (I regret I don't go)
I wish I could go...(I regret I can't)

So the difference is slight, I guess both are possible.

Let's wait for natives.

Gerdz · Answer

hi.

For me both you and your student are correct. You have to ask your student what he/she means.
I wish i went to America. = I did not go there.
I wish I could go to America. = I can not go there

We use wish + http://www.EnglishForward.com/grammar/past-simple to express that we want a situation in the present (or future) to be different.

Alda1119 · Answer

In my opinion, "I wish I went to America" is incorrect, as we use wish+past simple to talk about present situations, such as "I wish I was rich." = I am not rich now.
Better to say " I wish to go there."

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Welcome, welcome!
I wish .... is usually followed by the subjunctive verb form. The following verb depends on if it means a regret from the past, wish for a change in the present, or "impossible dream" for the future.
I would say the following:
I wish I had gone to America. ( Expressing regret about something that happened in the past. I went somewhere else, or did not go anywhere)
I wish that I could go to America. (A wish for something in the future, but not expected to come true.)
I wish I were in America. (A wish for something right now that is not actually true)

Cool Breeze · Answer

1. To express regret about a present situation, the past tense is used, as you say. However, for this situation you need the continuous past tense in your sentence:

I wish / If only I were going to America! (I'm going somewhere else at the moment.)

2. To refer to the future, would + present infinitive is often used:

I wish / If only he would come here tomorrow!

Could is often used if a person refers to himself:

I wish / If only I could go to America! (I probably can't go there.)

3. To refer to the past, the past perfect- or pluperfect of imagination, as Otto Jespersen calls it

- is used:

I wish / If only I had gone to America!

CB

Fandorin · Answer

I may not get something, but it still addles me a bit. Why not use I wish I went? So, as I get we can't say that.

?

Cool Breeze · Answer

Cool Breeze
1. To express regret about a present situation, the past tense is used, as you say. However, for this situation you need the continuous past tense in your sentence:

I wish / If only I were going to America! (I'm going somewhere else at the moment.)

My apologies for the incorrect term I used when I hastily posted my reply.

Were is of course a past subjunctive.

CB

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Hi Fandorin:
The subjunctive is slowing working its way out of our language, but we still use it. "i wish I went" just grates on my ears!

In the subjunctive mood, a present wish about an event in the past (obviously, you cannot change what happened) is the past perfect - an action both started and completed in the past.
I wish that my child had studied harder in school.
Sometimes we use regret + present perfect progressive, but this is the gerund form, not the subjunctive mood.

I regret not having studied harder in school.

Cool Breeze · Answer

FandorinI may not get something, but it still addles me a bit. Why not use I wish I went? So, as I get we can't say that. ?

Go usually implies repeated action, it is not used to indicate what is happening at this very moment: I go there every day. You cannot (usually) say: I go to America if the reference is to the present moment. You say: I am going to America.

However, it is possible to use a stative verb in a simple tense to refer to the present moment: I am rich. I have money. Consequently we only need the past subjunctive in sentences like this: I wish I were rich! I wish I had money. However, to refer to the present moment "I am going to America" becomes: I wish I were going to America, not: I wish I went to America.

You can of course say: I can go to America now. Consequently I wish I could go to America now is also possible.

CB

Fandorin · Answer

Thank you Alphecca and Cool Breeze. Now I grasp it.[Y]

The verb 'To Wish'

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