You wish you knew

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Nightmare85

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Hello mates,
Let's say someone asks me, "Who are you?", and my answer would be:
You wish you knew!
Would this be correct?
Or did I have to say something like:
You wish you knew it!
You wish you knew this!
You wish you knew that!

The first sentence (of the four) sounds incomplete to me.
The long version would be:
You wish you knew who I am!
I can understand that we can make either it, or this, or that out of who I am.
But just leaving it out?

Cheers!
 

corum

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You wish you knew who I [STRIKE]am[/STRIKE] was!!

'who I am' is not hypothetical; you do not want to backshift tense here.

You wish you knew!

It is okay to use 'know' intransitively, but what does your sentence mean? Also, what is the exclamation mark at the end of the sence in aid of?
 

bertietheblue

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This a very strange answer to a simple question. Why on earth would you say this and what do you mean?
 

Nightmare85

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Hi,
The "!" just emphasizes the sentence, so its use is not that necessary.
The answer is if you don't want to give away your real identity.

Anyway, even if its sense is not that understandable, I would like to know if it's grammatically correct.

So, You wish you knew. (no matter if "." or "!") is already okay?

Well, in order to make more sense, we can change the topic.

P1: Will Argentina win the FIFA World Cup 2010?
P2: I wish I knew.

Grammatically seen, it should be the same...
(If the main sentence is correct, this one should be correct too.)

Cheers!
 

corum

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GER - SRB 0:1 :shock::-o

Penalty kick for hand play for Germany! They missed it, lol.
 

bertietheblue

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GER - SRB 0:1 :shock::-o

Penalty kick for hand play for Germany! They missed it, lol.

I'm too busy reading about Portuguese motorways to watch:-(
 

Raymott

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Hello mates,
Let's say someone asks me, "Who are you?", and my answer would be:
You wish you knew!
Would this be correct?
Or did I have to say something like:
You wish you knew it!
You wish you knew this!
You wish you knew that!

The first sentence (of the four) sounds incomplete to me.
The long version would be:
You wish you knew who I am!
I can understand that we can make either it, or this, or that out of who I am.
But just leaving it out?

Cheers!
None of these sound right. If you need to give a rude answer, try:

A: "Who are you?"
B1: "Wouldn't you like to know!"
B2: "Who wants to know?" (ie. "Who are you, if it comes to that?")
 

Nightmare85

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Thanks, guys.

Raymott, okay, building example sentences is one of my big weak points.
Please, check this:
P1: Will Argentina win the FIFA World Cup 2010?
P2: I wish I knew.
(Of course we could also say, "You wish you knew.")

bertietheblue says it is correct, so we don't need to write:
You wish you knew it.
You wish you knew that.
You wish you knew this.

Do you agree?

Cheers!
 

Raymott

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Thanks, guys.

Raymott, okay, building example sentences is one of my big weak points.
Please, check this:
P1: Will Argentina win the FIFA World Cup 2010?
P2: I wish I knew.
(Of course we could also say, "You wish you knew.")
Well, I was trying to say that we would not say "You wish you knew". That's not an English phrase.
You can say, "I wish I knew", as bertie pointed out.


bertietheblue says it is correct, so we don't need to write:
You wish you knew it.
You wish you knew that.
You wish you knew this.

Do you agree?
What Bertie actually wrote was:
This a very strange answer to a simple question. Why on earth would you say this and what do you mean?"
I agree that you don't need to add anything to a phrase that you wouldn't use in the first place. And I agree with Bertie that it's a very strange answer.
Cheers!
R.
 

~Mav~

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Let's say someone asks me, "Who are you?", and my answer would be:
You wish you knew!
Out of curiosity (and apart from the grammar), do you mean a tongue-in-cheek answer like "You would only like to know, matey! :p " :?: Am I right? :)



If you need to give a rude answer, try:

A: "Who are you?"
B1: "Wouldn't you like to know!"
Is it really that mean? Of course, it's obviously not like "I am X.Y., at your service." :mrgreen: , but is it rude? I thought it had the same meaning like "You don't want to know that!". (Though granted, the latter is really not too polite. :lol: ) Besides I think you used the exclamation mark for a reason, didn't you? ;-) Would the question mark change the meaning from a sarcastic answer to a simple question? I (kinda :-D ) think it would.



PS: @Raymott,
Would you be so kind as to correct my mistakes, please? I'd like to learn from them.
:oops: :oops:
 

Nightmare85

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Out of curiosity (and apart from the grammar), do you mean a tongue-in-cheek answer like "You would only like to know, matey! :p " :?: Am I right? :)

Yes :up:

Cheers!
 

Nightmare85

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Out of curiosity (and apart from the grammar), do you mean a tongue-in-cheek answer like, "You would only like to know, matey! :p " :?: Am I right? :)
Is it really that mean? Of course, it's obviously not like, "I am X.Y., at your service." :mrgreen: , but is it rude? I thought it had the same meaning like, "You don't want to know that!". (Though granted, the latter is really not too polite. :lol: ) Besides, I think you used the exclamation mark for a reason, didn't you? ;-) Would the question mark change the meaning from a sarcastic answer to a simple question? I ([STRIKE]kinda[/STRIKE] kind of :-D ) think it would.

I'm not Raymott, but I tried it too. ;-)

P.S: Exclamation mark -> You used it too, and I think the reason is the same :)

Cheers!
 

~Mav~

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I'm not Raymott, but I tried it too. ;-)
Thank you. :up: :)

P.S: Exclamation mark -> You used it too, and I think the reason is the same :)
Not exactly. If you mean "You would only like to know, matey!", this is obviously not a question, while "Wouldn't you like to know!" starts like an ordinary question, and it could be a question, though with a different meaning, in my humble opinion. (That's what I asked Raymott. ;-) )

I (kinda kind of :-D ) think it would.
Oh, please!... :-D I deliberately wrote "kinda", and I did it for a reason. ;-) (I am totally aware of phrases like "gonna", "kinda", "gotta", etc.)
Besides, I
Yep! :up:

it had the same meaning like,
I'm not sure about it, but I believe you. :) Frankly, I don't intend to take any exam, so generally I consider these nuances, with which I can live together, so to speak. ;-) (I am NOT referring to "extra information" clauses, etc., and I also would put a comma after "like" if I inserted "for example" after it.) Honestly, I am much more concerned about things like word order, using correct tenses (and correct words, of course), writing complex sentences, etc. I wish a comma or two, or the lack of them were my only problems and mistakes. *sigh*


Anyway, I don't want to hijack your thread, not to mention that if I write too much, Raymott might not have either the time, or the inclination to correct my sentences, and I don't want to risk that. ;-) :-D
 

Nightmare85

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I learned to put commas as soon as you begin with a direct speak.

Let's say someone asks you, "How are you?".
My father told me, "You have a new job."
My father told me that I had a new job.

Many members use commas in such sentences.
(Except for sentence 3.)

Cheers!
 
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