I wish I had never met you

T

tablecloth

Senior Member
Madrid
Spanish
The lyrics of the song "Feelings" goes: "I wish I have never met you...". Is that OK? I've always thought is is "I wish I had never met you".
Thank you.
 
    • tablecloth said:
    The lyrics of the song "Feelings" goes: "I wish I have never met you...". Is that OK? I've always thought is is "I wish I have never met you".
    Thank you.
    Click to expand...

    Hola:

    ¡Te repetiste! En teoría, debería ser: I wish I had never met you. pero este ejemplo es de un canción y por eso es informal.
     
    "I wish I have never met you" is not correct, doesn't make sense in that form.

    I wish I had never met you
    I wish I'd never had met you

    Makes more sense to me
     
    Thank you very much. I posted my question twice because I couldn't find my thread (I don't know why yet).
    You have been most helpful. Though I have to say that this is the first time I read a sentence such as " I wish I'd never had met you", for me that has one too many "Hads". Am I right?
     
    tablecloth said:
    Thank you very much. I posted my question twice because I couldn't find my thread (I don't know why yet).
    You have been most helpful. Though I have to say that this is the first time I read a sentence such as " I wish I'd (I would) never had met you", for me that has one too many "Hads". Am I right?
    Click to expand...
     
    Thank you! I don't know why I didn't think of "would". Could you please give me another example of the use of this tense "I would had never+ past participle" without "I wish"?
     
    Since we're on the subject already, how do you say it in Spanish?

    Espero no haberte encontrado ?
     
    Thank you very much. I've been quite busy trying to find any other examples of the tense "I would had + past partiple" which was totally unknown to me. Has anyone has another example?
    Otherwise I will conclude that it doesn't exist.
    Thank you again.
    Saludos.
     
    Natandu, you seem to be very confused about this.

    After would there will always be a bare infinitive (clean, do, say...).

    If it is the perfect form, then it will be a perfect infinitive without to (have cleaned, have done, have said...).

    I would have cleared it better if I knew how.
     
    I agree with natandu actually, it sounds better with 'had' not 'have' because it's in the past. It sounded more natural like that when i read the first one and when i read the correction in didn't. Could be dialect but that's the way i've always said it.

    Now i can't stop saying them both in my head just to be sure!
     
    Well, what you probably say is "I wish I'd met you" = "I wish I had met you".

    If you in fact say "would had", you are free to, but it's totally incorrect.
     
    Ynes, I'm not confused at all thank you. I'm a native English speaker and while I accept the correction, it's not something I would say naturally with 'never', hence the question.

    It's an unreal situation with I wish and perfect past 'seemed' more natural in a expression that could be said in more ways.
     
    Thank you bailamojo.

    Natandu, maybe it would be a good idea if you take this topic to the English Only forum. Here we are trying to learn English.
     
    Ynez said:
    Thank you bailamojo.

    Natandu, maybe it would be a good idea if you take this topic to the English Only forum. Here we are trying to learn English.
    Click to expand...

    Be my guest, I'm only trying to help the original poster. Aqui, estoy intendando aprender español.
     
    abuelito said:
    I wish I'd (I would) never had have met you.
    I wish I had never met you.

    I would ( I'd) never have left without you had I known how much you cared.
    Click to expand...

    No, the 'd isn't short for would; it's short for HAD. I wish I had never met you. It's the pluperfect.
     
    Thanks Ynez,

    You are absolutely correct. I would have had to correct you if you were wrong.

    I love this forum, where English speaking people can learn English from a Spanish speaking person.

    Saludos,

    abuelito
     
    I wish I had never met you. BEST
    I wish I would never have met you. WORDY and NOT AS GOOD

    In informal English, I'd can be I had [better] or I would [not so good].
     
    The ‘had’ in that sentence is actually the infamous English subjunctive. A lot of native speakers tend to use ‘had’ and ‘would have’ interchangeably in such cases. However, such change is often considered unacceptable in careful speech and writing—the ‘correct’ form is to use the subjunctive had.
     
    I'm really grateful for all your explanations. In fact, what I was really wandering was if you could say "I wish I have never met you", in any dialect, even if it was not really widespread, but now I know it was only a kind of 'poetic license' (I don't know if this idiom really exists in English) so I'm completely safisfied. Thank you again.
    Saludos.
     
    Tablecloth,

    Yes, "poetic license" exists as an idiom in English.

    I have to say I'd be surprised, honestly, if "I wish I have never met you" is a correct representation of the lyrics. I certainly could be wrong, but I've never heard that construction as a common idiomatic pattern in the US (I've lived in the NE, SE, and spend lots of times with folks from the midwest and west coast). It's just as likely that it was incorrectly transcribed somewhere.

    Good luck!
     
    In fact, I've listened to it quite carefully and it really sounds like "I've", but, of course I can be mistaken. And I've also read the lyrics, but it was on the internet, so I don't have any reliable source. Anyway, it is not so important, and I feel a bit guilty about bringing up ( or is it bringing about?) such a controversial topic.
    Thank you all.
    Saludos.
     
    I realize this is a long-gone thread, but for the record, "I wish I would never had met you" sounds 100% incorrect to me (I believe have met is the only correct option). Perhaps they say it that way in England, but in my opinion the sentence is never formed with "would...had" in American English.

    Respectfully,

    tijita
     
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