[Grammar] I wish I had been a bird.// I wished I were a bird // I wished I had been a bird.

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wotcha

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1. I wish I were a bird = I'm sorry that I'm not a bird.

2. I wish I had been a bird = I'm sorry that I was not a bird.

3. I wished I were a bird

4. I wished I had been a bird.


First of all I want to know 3 and 4 are grammatical and make sense.

If they are. how can we transform these sentences into indicative mood?


Can sentence 3 be transformed 5 or 6?

3. I wished I were a bird =>

5. I was sorry that I'm not a bird (?)

6. I was sorry that I was not a bird (?)


Which one between 7 and 8 is a transformation of sentence 4?

4. I wished I had been a bird. =>

7. I was sorry that I was not a bird.

8. I was sorry that I had not been a bird.
 

Raymott

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1. I wish I were a bird = I'm sorry that I'm not a bird.

2. I wish I had been a bird = I'm sorry that I was not a bird.

3. I wished I were a bird

4. I wished I had been a bird.


First of all I want to know 3 and 4 are grammatical and make sense. Yes.

If they are. how can we transform these sentences into indicative mood?


Can sentence 3 be transformed 5 or 6?

3. I wished I were a bird =>

5. I was sorry that I'm not a bird (?)

6. I was sorry that I was not a bird (?) <- You back shift 'am' to 'was'


Which one between 7 and 8 is a transformation of sentence 4?

4. I wished I had been a bird. =>

7. I was sorry that I was not a bird.

8. I was sorry that I had not been a bird.
The last one is difficult to tell without a context, but I think 7 would be correct in most contexts even if the past perfect was correct. With more information, eg. "I wished I had been a bird in a previous life", the past perfect makes sense.
 
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