Why don't we say: I wish I would have more friends.

[Freeguy]

Why don't we say: I wish I would have more friends. ( I know that: "I wish I had more friends" is correct from both syntax and semantic viewpoints.;-))

 

[emsr2d2]

AmE seems to use the "wish" + "would" quite frequently. In BrE, only "I wish I had ..." is used.

 

[Freeguy]

So, I wish I would have more friends is not grammatically wrong. Thank you!

 

[5jj]

I wish I would have more friends​ is not correct British English.

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

Yes, one does come across this in AmE but not necessarily from educated speakers. I think it is wrong, and certainly consider it to be wrong in BrE.

If there is an educated AmE speaker who can explain that it is not wrong, I would be more than interested.

 

[Barb_D]

In talking about a past action (or non-action) we might say "I wish I would have known that" or "I wish I would have folded holding that full house."

I think most of us would agree that "I wish I had known that" or "I wish I had folded" is standard, but it's so common that I can't say it's wrong.

However, note that this is about an action. "I wish I would have more friends" doesn't work.

 

[emsr2d2]

I'd quite like to play poker with Barb if she folds when she's got a full house!

 

[Raymott]

I believe it's wrong, even though it's used in AmE. There is a correct meaning for "I wish I would have more friends" and similar sentences, but it's not "I wish I had more friends."
"Would" is a conditional. There is no conditional in "I wish I had more friends", and introducing "would" needs explaining. It's hard to think of an example of a conditional with those exact words, but it means "I wish I would have more friends - if some condition prevailed."

It's a similar error to the more common "I wish I would have known". (I wish I had known). "I wish she would have loved me more" (I wish she had loved me more). The use of the conditional for a straight indicative sentence wouldn't be so objectionable if the conditional sentence didn't already have a meaning which is being usurped.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I wouldn't use "I wish I have more friends" or "I wish I would have more friends". But "I wish I had more friends" is subjunctive (hypothetical) just because of the tense shift. This all depends on how one reads "had". The analogy is "I wish I was prettier" versus "I wish I were prettier". If one wanted to refer to past time, one could say "I wish I would have had more friends" or "I wish I had had more friends".

 

[Barb_D]

I'd quite like to play poker with Barb if she folds when she's got a full house!

(I was describing a scene I'd just seen on TV when the opponent ended up with four of a kind.)

 

[Roman55]

If one wanted to refer to past time, one could say "I wish I would have had more friends" or "I wish I had had more friends".

I am not a teacher.

This is exactly the use of 'wish + would' that I find wrong, and I'm still waiting for the explanation of why it isn't.

I tried to find some information on the internet to support this use in AmE and only found the opposite, one example of which is here.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Which is the exact example. I am confused.

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

Seek and ye shall find.

 

[Barb_D]

Enough, guys.
The FACT is, Americans do say "I wish I would have [past participle]" as well as "I wish I had [past participle]" and it's so common that if you are a descriptive grammarian, you can't call it wrong. If you are a prescriptive grammarian, you can call it wrong if you want to.

We don't say "I wish I would have [noun]."

 

[MikeNewYork]

Even prescriptive grammarians who are familiar with AmE would not call those wrong. If Roman thinks they are wrong, it is just one opinion.

 

[5jj]

I consider it incorrect in BrE. It's one of those things about AmE that jars on my ears, but I haven't considered it wrong (in AmE) for years. Once I realised that educated speakers of AmE used it, then that was it.

 

[bhaisahab]

I would teach it as being wrong. It is correct in American English, but I'm not sure that that fact is enough to call it correct when there are many other varieties of the language in which it is not correct.

 

[emsr2d2]

I feel bad for incorrectly suggesting that AmE uses "I wish I would have more friends" in the first place. I was aware that "I wish I would have had" was used instead of/in addition to "I wish I had (had) more friends" and thought that the OP's example was used. I now realise that it isn't.

I'm torn on the correctness/incorrectness of "I wish I would have had more friends". Most of me goes with Raymott and thinks "It's wrong even though it's acceptable in AmE". I would, as a BrE teacher, teach that it is incorrect and should be "I wish I had had more friends" but I would point out to a learner that the AmE variant accepts it.

 

[5jj]

I would teach it as being wrong. It is correct in American English, but I'm not sure that that fact is enough to call it correct when there are many other varieties of the language in which it is not correct.

I would certainly not call it 'correct' in absolute terms. However, some of us seem to have been calling it 'incorrect/wrong' in absolute terms just because it is incorrect in British English.

It is incorrect/wrong/unacceptable etc in standard varieties of BrE.

It is not for me, a speaker of BrE, to pronounce on its correctness in AmE. It seems to me, and that's all I can say, that it is acceptable in AmE. It is certainly not for us speakers of BrE/AusE to demand that AmE speakers justify this or, even worse, accept that it's wrong.

 

[MikeNewYork]

English speakers on both sides of the pond experience constructions from the other side that grate on their ears. This is one of the main reasons I love this forum. There are many BrE speakers here and I learn differences every day. I think 5jj has articulated my feeling about BrE expressions that I consider incorrect. An example that comes up here often is the use of the subjunctive, particularly the mandative subjunctive. When I run across "I demand that he is there" instead of "I demand that he be there", the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. And, while I would mark the first as incorrect in an AmE class, I try to not be absolutist about the correct form in global English.