Bruce Springsteen

"I wish I were blind when I see you with your man"

Please can you explain it is mistake or some special meaning?

Thank you

cartouche said:

"I wish I were blind when I see you with your man"

Please can you explain it is mistake or some special meaning?

Thank you

Click to expand...

It means that it upsets him so much to see her with another man, that he wishes he were blind and unable to see that.

Ha ha ha

I know what it means. Sorry I didn't explain my question correctly.

I am asking about was were
it should be "I wish I was" instead of "I wish I were"

cartouche said:

Ha ha ha

I know what it means. Sorry I didn't explain my question correctly.

I am asking about was were
it should be "I wish I was" instead of "I wish I were"

Click to expand...

"I wish I were..." is correct.

both "was" and "were" correct?

Oh, the delights of the subjunctive!

I wish I were...
If only I were...
If I were...

You will certainly hear "If I was..." etc in BrE very regularly and no-one will have the slightest idea that it's technically wrong. In fact, if you mention the subjunctive to most native BrE speakers, they will give you a blank stare and run away. We don't learn grammar (or at least we don't learn the terminology) unless we start learning a foreign language.

cartouche said:

"I wish I were blind when I see you with your man"

Please can you explain it is mistake or some special meaning?

Thank you

Click to expand...

********** NOT A TEACHER **********

Hello, Cartouche.

(1) I respectfully suggest that you use If I / he/ she / it were

whenever you speak about something that is not true:

If I were handsome (I'm not), I would have many girlfriends.

If Tom were a teacher (He's actually a mechanic), he would be very popular because he is very patient and kind.

If today were Sunday (It's actually Tuesday), I would go to church.

*****

(2) I respectfully suggest that you use If I/ he/ she/ it was

whenever you are talking about something that possibly happened in

the past.

Joe: Why are you angry with me?

Martha: Because you were rude to me yesterday.

Joe: Really? Well, if I was rude to you yesterday (it is possible

because sometimes I am rude to people without knowing it), I wish to

apologize today.

**********

Mona: Was Ralph at yesterday's party?

Tony: Yes, he was.

Mona: Well, if he was there, I certainly did not see him. (It is possible
that

Ralph attended the party, but there were so many people there that

Mona never saw him.)

Thank you

TheParser

This is a great explanation - simple and clear. I'm filing it for future reference!

The answer like it is correct or not correct is not answer for me.
The same was when I studed in uni, If I did wrong the doctor said "forget about it". But why should I forget? I need to know the problem from inside to avoid making any mistakes in future.


TheParser, thank you for your answer and full explaination.