I wish I were him

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Nightmare85

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2009
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Interested in Language
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German
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Germany
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Germany
Hello guys,
I'm not fully sure if this is really correct:
I wish I were him.

Although I believe him is an object, I could imagine to use he.

Same here:You wish you were me.
You wish you were I. (But me sounds better here.)

P.S. Google tells me him is correct, but I don't always trust Google. ;-)

Cheers!
 

Kamila M

Junior Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2009
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Student or Learner
Native Language
Polish
Home Country
Poland
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Poland
To me, I wish I were him is perfectly OK. I can't think of any other possibility. Using 'he' would be incorrect.
 

TheParser

VIP Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2009
Member Type
Other
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
Hello guys,
I'm not fully sure if this is really correct:
I wish I were him.

Although I believe him is an object, I could imagine to use he.

Same here:You wish you were me.
You wish you were I. (But me sounds better here.)

P.S. Google tells me him is correct, but I don't always trust Google. ;-)

Cheers!

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

Good morning, Nightmare.

(1) In my opinion (ONLY):

(a) Book English: I wish that I were he.

(b) Regular English spoken by 95% (?) of native speakers: I wish (that) I was/were him.

I believe that it would NOT be accurate to call he/him an object in this sentence. The pronoun actually refers back to "I." So most books call it a subject(ive) complement. (It complements or completes the subject.)

(2) Book English: You wish that you were I.

Regular English: You wish that you were me.

(P. S. Some "experts" predict that soon 100% of native speakers will use the "regular" form. Many native speakers think the "book" form is "bad" English because they do not know the "rules." )

Have a nice day!
 
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