"Wish you were here"

Question

Why do we say "wish you were here" instead of "wish you are here"?

Fivejedjon · Accepted Answer

Because 'you' are not here. If you were, the speaker would not wish for it, because it would already be.

The past/distanced for of the verb indicates a counterfactual situation.

Anonymous · Answer

Fivejedjon, please, explain it further.
The way you explained to me, seems that I wish he/she/it to be with me in the past, not to be with me in the present. If I wish he/she to be with me now, I am going to use the present tense to say that. If he/she/it is not here now, that's exactly the reason why I wish he/she to be here now, so use the present. Why I don't get it is because it doesn't work the same in the other languages, as in English.
Is there any rule I can learn about it?

Fivejedjon · Answer

The so-called 'past' tenses can distance situations not only in time but also in reality.

They were at my party last month. - Real situation, past time. Distanced in time.
I wish they were here now. - Unreal situation (they are not here), present time. Distanced in reality.

They were not at my party last month. - Real situation, past time. Distanced in time.
I wish they had been at my party last month - Unreal situation, past time. Distanced in time and reality.

Some other languages use a subjunctive form of the verb for this distancing in reality. In English, the past subjunctive is identical to the indicative form of all verbs except BE (and even then only in the first and third forms singular) Most native speakers (at least of British English) are not even aware of the existence of the subjunctive in English.

Just remember that in these unreal/counterfactual situations, past tense does not indicate past time.

If I had a lot of money now, I would but my parents a house. - I do not have a lot of money now.
I wish I had a lot of money now. - I do not have a lot of money now.

IELTS instructor · Answer

In the conditional statements or unreal situations we can twist the rules in English.
Genrally it is:

I was
We were
You were
He/She/It was
They were

But in condition stated in your thread we say:

Wish she were here (you are imagining)
I wish she were here (you are imagining)
If she were here (you are imagining)

Let me make it more clear by giving another example.

If I find your wallet, I will give it to you. (Probability of finding the wallet is more). So you use find (first form) and will.
If I found a wallet, I would give it to the police. (Probability is less). So you use found (2nd form) and would.

If you are there, I will pick you up. (more)
If you were there, I would pick you up. (less)

Similary you can use If I were/we were/you were/he were/she were/it were/they were.

But remember it is not necessary to use were in this case. You can also say Wish she was here. It's perfectly fine to say that. The thing you cannot do is: Wish she is here (Incorrect)

Hope my post serves the purpose. I would appreciate to be corrected If am wrong.

Fivejedjon · Answer

IELTS instructorIn the conditional statements or unreal situations we can twist the rules in English.

It's not really 'twisting the rules'. For those who use the past subjunctive 'were' is the correct form for all persons of BE.

IELTS instructor · Answer

fivejedjon: the native speakers are not aware of subjunctive (BrE)

I tend to follow BrE. Do you mind telling me a little bit more about this please. Thanks!

Fivejedjon · Answer

IELTS instructorI tend to follow BrE. Do you mind telling me a little bit more about this please.

Some native speakers of BrE are aware of the existence of the subjunctive. Others, who may not be aware of the word 'subjunctive' use the mood.

Except in a few fixed phrases such as 'Long live the Queen' and 'Rule Britannia, Britannia rule the wave', the present subjunctive is dead for 99% of speakers of BrE.

As BE is the only verb in the language that has a distinct past subjunctive form, many teachers feel that it is pointless to speak of a subjunctive form in such sentences as 'I wish I had a car' or 'I would be happy if I had a car'.I am one such teacher.

Purists still insist that 'were' is the only correct form form for BE in the first and third persons singular in hypothetical/counterfactual sentences. However, except for the semi-fixed expression 'If I were you' (and even with this, many people use 'was'), probably only a minority use 'were' in writing, and a small minority in speaking. I tell learners that if they use 'was' when the purists insist on 'were', they will be doing only what most native speakers do.

Because of my age and very formal education many years ago, I use 'were' . My offspring don't.

IELTS instructor · Answer

Nice one, Thanks for a wonderful explaination.
Cheers mate!

"Wish you were here"

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