Question

Choose the sentence which contains a mistake:
a) I wish I was a movie star.
b) I wish there were more opportunities like these.
c) I wish I could have more time for myself.
d) I wish I knew more people.

Answer 1

I think it's a

Answer 2

I think the sentence containing the error is "d"

Answer 3

I'm guessing a. I wish I were a movie star sounds much better.

Answer 4

"A" contains the mistake. The person is wishing for something that hasn't happened which calls for the subjunctive. Therefore "were" should be used instead of "was."

Answer 5

Here's the subjunctive again (see the answer to your question about indirect speech).

What would be the factual versions of each of these?

I am a movie star.

There are more opportunities like these.

I have more time for myself.

I know more people.

When you add "I wish" to the beginning of any of these statements, you are now in the realm of the subjunctive.

Here's one way to express the subjunctive --

I wish I were a movie star.

I wish there were more opportunities like these.

I wish I had more time for myself.

I wish I knew more people.


And here's another --

I wish I could have been a movie star.

I wish there could have been more opportunities like these.

I wish I could have more time for myself.

I wish I could have known more people.


In that last set, here's an instance of conditional-like statements being employed in service of the subjunctive.

Other languages have distinct verbal forms for the subjunctive. English has only a few. The rest of the time, it expresses the subjunctive by adopting conditional forms and making other structural changes to the sentence.

The main thing that this and the other question are testing you on is your ability to recognize that "was" becomes "were" in subjunctive contexts.

Answer 6

Thanks everybody! Thanks Redwood!