Is "I wish I was" as correct as "I wish I were"?

lanfranco

When you say or write "I wish," you are generally expressing a desire for something that is counter to fact -- i.e., "I wish I had blonde hair (but my hair is actually brown). When a form of the verb "to be" is called for, you need to use the subjunctive "were." As in "I wish I were a blonde." http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000031.htm Apr 14 06, 1:00 PM

mementoflash

I wish you were a blonde too, lanfranco. Apr 14 06, 1:24 PM

lanfranco

Actually, I am. Apr 14 06, 1:57 PM

mementoflash

Natural? Apr 14 06, 1:58 PM

lammas1

Both can be correct. It depends on the speaker's view of how true he thinks his supposition is. If he says 'If I were a rich man ...', he is admitting quite clearly that he is not rich. However, if he says 'If I was rude, I apologise', he is not taking a firm position either way; he is merely covering his bases. Apr 14 06, 2:17 PM

lanfranco

The question specifically involved the phrase "I wish." As for mf's query, the answer is yes and no. And that's all I'm going to say on the subject. Apr 14 06, 5:27 PM

loominitsa

Actually my question was asked because in many English text books printed in UK both forms are given as correct and I know that were in I wish I were is subjunctive Apr 15 06, 11:29 AM

kaylofgorons

They might be responding to a common lack of distinction in everyday use. In linguistics, there's a bit of controversy over whether or not *anything* can be called correct or incorrect. Apr 15 06, 6:47 PM