I wish I had met him
- Thread starter bachua
- Start date
Hello @bachua ! As far as I know, "wish" used with the past perfect expresses regrets, something you can not do anymore now. (sentences below -> Wishes and hypotheses)
Hope I helped !
Hope I helped !
oh! thank you..that's a new learning for me..but I"m thinking why or how?
It is before a specified time. That is what "earlier" means.
Thank You Sir
but why do we say "I've told you earlier" and not "I'd told you earlier"?
haaan! got it got it sir..very well explained...thank you very much
I'm sorry to be confusing 😬 but..
... the sentence also works if you remove "earlier". Then, it means that you have never met this person but also that you will never meet him/her (= regret). All this corresponds to grammar rules with "wish". The tense used does not always seem logical at first (I'm a French learner).
If you consider the rule below, it does not seem more logical:
... the sentence also works if you remove "earlier". Then, it means that you have never met this person but also that you will never meet him/her (= regret). All this corresponds to grammar rules with "wish". The tense used does not always seem logical at first (I'm a French learner).
If you consider the rule below, it does not seem more logical:
- We use past simple and continuous to talk about wishes for the present:
For a learner that's a good way to remember it.Personally I prefer the explanation with subjunctive mood:
Since such wishes always express counterfacual information, we need the subjunctive mood to express counterfactuality.
Subjunctive mood only knows two grammatical tenses: the present and the past.
'I wish I was/were taller' is present tense subjunctive mood.
Consequently, 'I wish I met him earlier' can only be analyzed as present tense subjunctive mood. The subjunctive verb 'met' has the same form as simple past but it does NOT express past tense.
For past tense subjunctive mood, you need to use the past perfect of the verb: "had met".
'I wish I had met him earlier' means that you wish now that you had met him earlier than now or earlier than the time in the past when you met him.
Current English standard grammar usually doesn't explain it that way because this form of the formal subjunctive mood was dropped at the end of Old English, some 1000 years ago. However, learners whose native language still uses subjunctive mood may find this expalantion of the 'I wish'-construction more intuitive and easier to remember.
thank you very much sir...
Personally I prefer the explanation with subjunctive mood:
Since such wishes always express counterfacual information, we need the subjunctive mood to express counterfactuality.
Subjunctive mood only knows two grammatical tenses: the present and the past.
'I wish I was/were taller' is present tense subjunctive mood.
Consequently, 'I wish I met him earlier' can only be analyzed as present tense subjunctive mood. The subjunctive verb 'met' has the same form as simple past but it does NOT express past tense.
For past tense subjunctive mood, you need to use the past perfect of the verb: "had met".
'I wish I had met him earlier' means that you wish now that you had met him earlier than now or earlier than the time in the past when you met him.
Current English standard grammar usually doesn't explain it that way because this form of the formal subjunctive mood was dropped at the end of Old English, some 1000 years ago. However, learners whose native language still uses subjunctive mood may find this expalantion of the 'I wish'-construction more intuitive and easier to remember.
Another slant on the above explanations:
What the out-of-context OP sentence says is that the speaker did meet (and possibly thus know) someone who may or may not still be alive. What they’re saying about having met him is simply that they wish it had happened earlier than it did, hence the past perfect. It could be said in varying scenarios:
I wish I had met him earlier.
I did meet him once, but I wish I’d done so earlier, when we were both young.
I wish I had met him earlier.
I’ve known him for a few years, but I wish we’d met earlier so that we could have had a longer relationship/friendship.
After "wish", you have only two options here:
I wish I met him... (I wish I met him on a regular basis.)
Example: I only see him once a week; I wish I met him every day.
I wish I had met him... (I didn't meet him, but I wish I had).
Examples: I wish I had met him when I was younger.
I wish I had met him, but unfortunately our paths never crossed.
"I wish I have met him..." is not an option, as it is not grammatically correct.
I wish I met him... (I wish I met him on a regular basis.)
Example: I only see him once a week; I wish I met him every day.
I wish I had met him... (I didn't meet him, but I wish I had).
Examples: I wish I had met him when I was younger.
I wish I had met him, but unfortunately our paths never crossed.
"I wish I have met him..." is not an option, as it is not grammatically correct.
But not if you add earlier, of course. Then the past perfect means you did meet him, but later than you would have liked.
Yes, I didn't think of this form. That's clearly present tense because it expresses what you would want to happen now if it were possible. But this only works with the adverbial "every day". Without it, it wouldn't make sense: "I only see him once a week; I wish I met him."
What is "V3"?