[Grammar] Wish
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GoesStation
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This American English-speaker agrees with your preference.
andrewg927
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No. I don't think so. Beachboy insisted that he/she wanted to use "would be" at all costs and I was just trying to find a scenario that might remotely work. I don't find it very natural but it is the most acceptable of all unlikely options.
beachboy
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It's not that I want to use "would be" at all costs. I just wanted to know the rule as to when I can use "wish - would - be", so that one day I'll have elements to find the answers to my questions by myself. What you are doing is sticking to the example I gave, telling me hundreds of things about it, but these things won't teach me the rule. There are many things I want to know, and I'm sure many learners are reading what you guys have posted, and still haven't come to a conclusion. On the other hand, I don't want to be that annoying. If I 'insist" on asking, you'll say you don't know what else you can do to enlighten my way, and I'll feel rather stupid. Maybe next time I'll be luckier.
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beachboy
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"I won't be quiet because I don't want to" leads to "I wish you would BE quiet" or "I wish you wouldn't BE noisy"
"I won't be at your party tomorrow because I don't like parties" doesn't lead to "I wish you would BE at my party tomorrow"
Does "I won't be here with you at 10 because Mary will have arrived by then, and I don't like her" lead to "I wish you would BE here with us at 10"?
"I won't be at your party tomorrow because I don't like parties" doesn't lead to "I wish you would BE at my party tomorrow"
Does "I won't be here with you at 10 because Mary will have arrived by then, and I don't like her" lead to "I wish you would BE here with us at 10"?
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I can see what you're aiming for here. Unfortunately it's just not natural, in most cases, to say that. We use could there, or just say I wish you would, with the last word emphasized.
It changes to could because the speaker mentioned an inability to do what we want. The first sentence could have been phrased I can't be here at 10 because Mary will have arrived by then. I can't stand to be around her! The interlocutor responds with a conjugation of can because that modal verb expresses ability.
andrewg927
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At some point, you just need to accept that we don't say certain things in English. It's not because there is a reason behind it. I saw some other thread a while ago about why we say "she is a lesbian" but not "he is a gay". There is really no rationale behind it. The English language is irrational and sometimes defies logic.
beachboy
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I totally agree, Andrew! Anyway, I think there is always a rule, and there are exceptions to the rules. I accept that we can't say "I have much money". We have to say "I was ON a bus last night". As for the issue I brought up, I've come to the conclusion that the rule is that I can use "I wish you would be" followed by an adjective, but not followed by a place (in general terms), and instead, I have to say "I wish you would go/come".
andrewg927
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I'm not sure what you meant by we can't say "I have much money." It's not wrong.
jutfrank
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There's nothing ungrammatical about I have much money. It's just that it doesn't sound very natural.
It's the same with I wish you would be at my party. We tend to use the I wish you would... structure with action verbs, (like do) not state verbs (like be) to express some kind of behaviour which we are annoyed at or displeased with. That's why ...come to my party sounds more natural than ...be at my party.
With the example I wish you wouldn't be so noisy, although we are using be, we are saying it is the (noisy) behaviour of the listener that annoys us. We are not commenting on what or where they are, but what they do.
It's the same with I wish you would be at my party. We tend to use the I wish you would... structure with action verbs, (like do) not state verbs (like be) to express some kind of behaviour which we are annoyed at or displeased with. That's why ...come to my party sounds more natural than ...be at my party.
With the example I wish you wouldn't be so noisy, although we are using be, we are saying it is the (noisy) behaviour of the listener that annoys us. We are not commenting on what or where they are, but what they do.
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