When David was young

[Bassim]

I am wondering if my sentence is grammatically correct.

When David was young, he wished to have been born at the seaside, swimming every day, all year around.

 

[GoesStation]

It doesn't work. He could wish he had been born at the seaside. It's not likely a baby would be swimming at birth or that a newborn would swim every day (or even at all) at any time of year.

 

[Bassim]

The problem is that I can't express myself properly in English, and therefore my sentence doesn't work. David wished he had been born at the seaside, and then could swim as a young man, and not as a baby.

Would this version be correct?

When David was young, he wished he had been born at the seaside, where he could swim every day, all year around.

 

[GoesStation]

Yes, that's better. It doesn't need a comma after "seaside". I think BrE would say "all year round", but around​ is the right word in AmE.

 

[Rover_KE]

I think BrE would say "all year round ...

:up:

 

[jutfrank]

But why does it matter where he was born? Do you mean he wished he lived by the sea?