It wasn't him. I wish(ed) it <were> <'d been> him.

[Michaelll]

I'd like to ask you about the verb wish. Thank you so much for all the help you always give.

It's not him. I wish it is him.
It's not him. I wish it were him.

I know that in the present we use the past subjunctive. But in the past? Which one is correct the past subjunctive or the past perfect subjunctive?

It wasn't him. I wish it were him. (?)
It wasn't him. I wish it'd been him. (I suppose this one is correct, right?)

It wasn't him. I wished it were him. (?)
It wasn't him. I wished it'd been him. (?)

 

[Barque]

What exactly do you mean by "It wasn't him"? I an think of two different things you might mean.

There are different possibilities based on what you are talking about.

 

[Michaelll]

What exactly do you mean by "It wasn't him"?

There's a man walking down the street, my friend says, "That's Peter, your school friend!", and I reply, "No, it's not him."

Something like this:

It's not aliens. I wish it is aliens.
It's not aliens. I wish it were aliens.

I know that in the present we use the past subjunctive. But in the past? Which one is correct?

It wasn't aliens. I wish it were aliens. (?)
It wasn't aliens. I wish it'd been aliens. (I suppose this one is correct, right?)

It wasn't aliens. I wished it were aliens. (?)
It wasn't aliens. I wished it'd been aliens. (?)

 

[Barque]

There's a man walking down the street, my friend says, "That's Peter, your school friend!", "No, it's not him."

I asked what you mean by "It wasn't him". You've provided an example in which you've used "It's not him".

Both the following are possible depending on context and what you are talking about.
It wasn't him. I wish it had [been].
It wasn't him. I wished it had [been].
It'd be unnatural to repeat "him".

 

[Michaelll]

I asked what you mean by "It wasn't him". You've provided an example in which you've used "It's not him".

• My friend and I saw a man walking down the street. Half an hour later, at home, my friend says, "That man, I think it was Peter, our school friend". I reply, "No, it wasn't him. I wish it <were> <had been> him. I'd've walked up to him and talked".

Both the following are possible depending on context and what you are talking about.
It wasn't him. I wish it had [been].
It wasn't him. I wished it had [been].
It'd be unnatural to repeat "him".

OK, these two are correct.
It wasn't him. I wish it'd been him.
It wasn't him. I wished it'd been him.

What do you think of these two? Are they wrong?
It wasn't him. I wish it were him. (?)
It wasn't him. I wished it were him. (?)

 

[5jj]

Is it really so difficult to put "It's not him" into the past? Is it? What's the problem?

A little less snark, please!.

 

[jutfrank]

It wasn't him. I wish it had been him.

The wish is a present desire so the verb wish is in the present tense.

 

[emsr2d2]

Said now, talking about now:
A: Isn't that your friend?
B: No. I wish it were.

Said now, talking about the past:
A: Wasn't that your friend?
B: No. I wish it had been.

 

[Barque]

It's also possible, in the right context, for a person to say "I wished it had been". That's why I was asking Michaelll what he meant by "It wasn't him". It might not be likely in the specific context Michaelll has provided, of course.

 

[Michaelll]

It wasn't him. I wish it had been him.

Said now, talking about the past:
A: Wasn't that your friend?
B: No. I wish it had been.

It's also possible, in the right context, for a person to say "I wished it had been".

Thank you! So, this is what I've got:

It's not aliens. I wish it is aliens.
It's not aliens. I wish it were aliens.
It wasn't aliens. I wish it were aliens.
It wasn't aliens. I wish it'd been aliens.
It wasn't aliens. I wished it were aliens. (= I said to myself, "I wish it were aliens")
It wasn't aliens. I wished it'd been aliens. (= I said to myself, "I wish it were aliens")

I don't know whether I should start a new thread on this or should I continue it here.
I'd like to ask you now about the modal verb 'can' with the verb wish. Just as with the previous example, in the present and past.

Unfortunately I can't help him. I wish I can help him.
Unfortunately I can't help him. I wish I could help him.
Unfortunately I couldn't help him (yesterday). I wish I could help him. (?)
Unfortunately I couldn't help him (yesterday). I wish I could've helped him. (I suppose this one is correct, right?)
Unfortunately I couldn't help him (yesterday). I wished I could help him. (?) (= I said to myself, "I wish I could...")
Unfortunately I couldn't help him (yesterday). I wished I could've helped him. (?) (= I said to myself, "I wish I could...")

 

[jutfrank]

I couldn't help him. I wish I had been able to.

 

[Michaelll]

I couldn't help him. I wish I had been able to.

Thank you. Do we have to use 'be able to' in the present, too?

Unfortunately I can't help him. I wish I could help him. (?)
Unfortunately I can't help him. I wish I were able to help him. (?)

 

[jutfrank]

No, both forms are correct there.

 

[Barque]

Unfortunately I can't help him. I wish I could help him. (?)
Unfortunately I can't help him. I wish I were able to help him. (?)

It's however unnatural to repeat "help him".
I wish I could.
I wish I were able to.

 

[Michaelll]

It's however unnatural to repeat "help him".

Yeah, I can feel it. Still, I'd like to write full examples to break down the idea completely.

It's not aliens. I wish it is aliens.
It's not aliens. I wish it were aliens.
It wasn't aliens. I wish it were aliens.
It wasn't aliens. I wish it'd been aliens.
It wasn't aliens. I wished it were aliens. (= I said to myself, "I wish it were aliens")
It wasn't aliens. I wished it'd been aliens. (= I said to myself, "I wish it were aliens")

(in the present both can and be able to work fine)
Unfortunately I can't help him. I wish I can help him.
Unfortunately I can't help him. I wish I could help him.
Unfortunately I can't help him. I wish I am able to help him.
Unfortunately I can't help him. I wish I were able to help him.
(in the past we should only use be able to)
Unfortunately I couldn't help him (yesterday). I wish I were able to help him.
Unfortunately I couldn't help him (yesterday). I wish I had been able to help him.
Unfortunately I couldn't help him (yesterday). I wished I were able to help him.
Unfortunately I couldn't help him (yesterday). I wished I had been able to help him.

 

[Michaelll]

Thank you. Do we have to use 'be able to' in the present, too?

Unfortunately I can't help him. I wish I could help her. (?)
Unfortunately I can't help him. I wish I were able to help her. (?)

No, both forms are correct there.

OK, so in the present both forms are fine, but in the past only 'had been able to' will do.
What about the reported speech? Do we make the same changes in it in the past?

A: Unfortunately I can't help her. I wish I could help her.
A few hours later:
B: A said that he couldn't help her and that he wished he [could help/could have helped/had been able to help] her.
or B: A said that he wished he [could help/could have helped/had been able to help] her.

I know it may be awkward to repeat each word, but now I'm only interested in grammar. Thanks for understanding.

 

[jutfrank]

Anton said he can't help her and that he wished he could (help her).

In this sentence, Anton's helping her is still a logical possibility. You could also use couldn't instead of can't in this sentence. You could also use the present tense wishes here, if you think the wishing is still sufficiently relevant at the time of speaking.

Anton said he hadn't been able to help her but that he wished he had (been able to help her).

This is all backshifted, which makes it likely that helping her is no longer a possibility.

 

[Michaelll]

Anton: Unfortunately I can't help her. I wish I could help her.
A few hours later:

1a. Anton said he can't help her and that he wished he could (help her).

In this sentence, Anton's helping her is still a logical possibility. You could also use couldn't instead of can't in this sentence. You could also use the present tense wishes here, if you think the wishing is still sufficiently relevant at the time of speaking.

Like these?
2a. Anton said he couldn't help her and that he wished he could (help her).
3a. Anton said he can't help her and that he wishes he could (help her).
4a. Anton said he can't help her and that he wished he could (help her).
(still a possibility)


Anton: Unfortunately I can't help her. I wish I could help her.
A few hours later:

1b. Anton said he hadn't been able to help her but that he wished he had (been able to help her).

This is all backshifted, which makes it likely that helping her is no longer a possibility.

Could we use 'couldn't' instead of 'hadn't been able to' in the first part of this reported speech sentence (his actual words were "I can't help her")?
2b. Anton said that he couldn't help her but that he wished he had (been able to help her).
(it's likely that helping her is no longer a possibility)

 

[jutfrank]

Like these?
2a. Anton said he couldn't help her and that he wished he could (help her).
3a. Anton said he can't help her and that he wishes he could (help her).
4a. Anton said he can't help her and that he wished he could (help her).
(still a possibility)

Oops. Sentence 3a. is what I meant to say in my post instead of 4a (sorry). It means that she still needs help.

Sentence 4a. is okay (why have you crossed it out?) but the tenses don't match so it's not a great model.

2a is fine. Both verbs are backshifted there.

Anton: Unfortunately I can't help her. I wish I could help her.
A few hours later:

Could we use 'couldn't' instead of 'hadn't been able to' in the first part of this reported speech sentence (his actual words were "I can't help her")

2b. Anton said that he couldn't help her but that he wished he had (been able to help her).
(it's likely that helping her is no longer a possibility)

If you use couldn't, it would mean that the possibility of helping her is still a present/future possibilty for Anton. The past perfect would work better to show that the possibility of helping her was in the past—the help was no longer required.

 

[Michaelll]

Oops. Sentence 3a. is what I meant to say in my post instead of 4a (sorry). It means that she still needs help.

Maybe, you mean instead of 1a (the sentence you wrote in #17)?

4a. Anton said he can't help her and that he wished he could (help her).

Sentence 4a. is okay (why have you crossed it out?) but the tenses don't match so it's not a great model.

Hmm... I just didn't think it was a good idea to mix "... said he can't ..." with "he wished ...". I just didn't know it could even work.
In my humble opinion, I would think that these two (out of the four) are the best:

2a. Anton said he couldn't help her and that he wished he could (help her). (said + past-past)
3a. Anton said he can't help her and that he wishes he could (help her). (said + present-present)

If you use couldn't, it would mean that the possibility of helping her is still a present/future possibilty for Anton. The past perfect would work better to show that the possibility of helping her was in the past—the help was no longer required.

This is a pretty complicated part of English grammar for me. I don't quite understand why "couldn't" keeps this possibility.
After all, 'couldn't' is a backshifted version of 'can't'. I was taught that in the reported speech "I can't help her" changes to "He said he couldn't help her" with the same pattern as "I want to go out" changes to "He said he wanted to go out".