[Grammar] 'I wish...'

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wotcha

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Jun 29, 2010
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Korean
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South Korea
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1. I wish I had passed the exam.

2. I wished I had passed the exam.

Which is correct and how they are different?
 
**Neither a teacher nor a native speaker.**

As far as I know:
I wish I had passed the exam. :tick:
I wished I had passed the exam. :cross:
Some days ago you had an exam but did not pass it.

I wish I passed the exam. :tick:
You will have an exam, but you're pretty sure you will not pass it.

Wish stays wish, but the rest - depending on tense - must be changed.

P.S. Wishes is the exception, like "He wishes he had passed the exam." :tick:

Cheers!
 
'I wish I had passed the exam'. That's what you wish now.

'I wished I had passed the exam'. That what you wished in the past. Now you don't care.

Rover
 
*** NOT A TEACHER ***


'I wish I had passed the exam'. That's what you wish now.


Can the Perfect Infinitive be used after "wish":?: Consider this: 'I wish to have passed the exam'. I know it is fine after 'would like'. E.g., 'He would like (now) to have passed the exam'. :)arrow: He failed.)

'I wished I had passed the exam'. That what you wished in the past. Now you don't care.

Rover

He would have liked (then) to pass the exam. Or, in Thackeray's style ( :-D ), 'He would have liked to have passed the exam.' (Though Mr. Fowler wrote that the nonfulfilment was already given in 'he would have liked'.)
But again, would it be correct to use the Perfect Infinitive after "wished":?: To me, it seems logical. ('He wished to have passed the exam.') It implies both what he wished in the past and the nonfulfilment.
 
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