I wished I had been rich. I wished I were rich.

[wotcha]

1. I wished I had been rich.

2. I was sorry I was not rich.

3. I was sorry I had not been rich.



4. I wished I were rich.

5. I was sorry I was not rich.



I've read about numerous examples of 'I wish subjunctive' and

come across several different explanations of if sentence 1 and 4.


My question here is

First, which sentence between 2 and 3 is same as sentence 1 in meaning?

Second. do you native speakers really say like sentence 4?

If then, can we change sentence 4 to sentence 5 ?


Thank you so much teachers.

[Raymott]

First, which sentence between 2 and 3 is same as sentence 1 in meaning?

Second. do you native speakers really say like sentence 4?

If then, can we change sentence 4 to sentence 5 ?


Thank you so much teachers.

Leaving aside any discussion of whether "I wished I was ..." means the same as "I was sorry I was not ...":
More context is needed to tell whether 1 means something closer to 2 or 3.
2. suggests that the being sorry and the not being rich occurred at the same time in the past. 3. suggests that the not being rich occurred at some time before the being sorry about it, and that there was some relevant intervening fact (as one would expect with the past perfect). 1. is ambiguous about this, but the context would help.

4. No. I would say "I wished I was rich".
Yes you can change it with 5. if you think nothing would be lost in meaning, as per my first line.