1. Don't you wish life were like it is in the movies?
2. Don't you wish life was like it is in the movies?
2007-08-24 02:35:21 · 22 answers · asked by lost.in.love 4 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
(This question really should have stopped with Goddess of Grammar's answer. She was right.)
The first sentence is correct, since this is a classic example of the subjunctive mood. (Not "case"--cases are for things like nouns and pronouns.) More specifically, it's an instance of what's sometimes called the "volitional subjunctive", which is used to express a wish, desire, or hope.
Incidentally, if you're wondering why it's "were" for a singular subject, I'm going to copy of one of my old answers here:
The singular subjunctive (in this usage, anyway) all the way back in Old English (pre-1100 or so) was "waere", while the plural was "waeren". One of the changes that happened during the transition from Old to Middle English was the general loss of the final "-n" on verb forms, leading to the subjunctive looking and sounding the same in the singular and plural.
2007-08-24 07:56:56 · answer #1 · answered by Mr. Bad Example 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
2
2007-08-24 10:00:25 · answer #2 · answered by jay 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Number 2
2007-08-24 09:40:11 · answer #3 · answered by Bob 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Just asking but should it be Do you wish....? Because "Don't you wish" is asking "Do not you wish" So yes would mean I do not wish life was/were like the movies. This being the opposite answer of what the question means to ask.
2007-08-24 10:29:40 · answer #4 · answered by tamarack58 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The sentence No.1 is correct. It follows a rule called "past subjunctive rule'.
The past subjunctive is sometimes called the were subjunctive, since were is the only subjunctive form that is distinct from the indicative past tense. It appears chiefly in if clauses and in a few other constructions expressing hypothetical conditions:
If he were sorry, he’d have apologized by now.
I wish she weren’t going away.
She’s already acting as if she were going to be promoted.
Suppose she were to resign, what would you do then?
2007-08-24 09:44:02 · answer #5 · answered by venky 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
# 1: were
2007-08-24 10:11:19 · answer #6 · answered by Andrew v 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It's number 2 that is correct. And that sentence is not subjunctive case, the answerers are wrong. A sentence that has subjunctive case would have a conjunction in it. (but, and, that, or)
However, you should have agreement of tense: "Don't you wish life IS like it is in the movies?"
2007-08-24 11:40:06 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Number 2 is correct. Those that are saying use of the past subjunctive (the were subjunctive as it is sometimes called)are incorrect. The past subjunctive appears chiefly in "if clauses" and in a few other constructions expressing hypothetical conditions. This is not one of those cases.
2007-08-24 10:00:29 · answer #8 · answered by ghouly05 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
The correct answer is #2:
Don't you wish life was like it is in the movies?
The second sentence is correct because "life" is a singular noun, meaning it represents one single thing. The verb "was" goes with singular nouns and the verb "were" goes with plural nouns.
Another example:
Don't you wish trees "were" flavored like candy?
Don't you wish a tree "was" flavored like candy?
Get it? I hope so!
2007-08-24 09:41:09 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
neither
you are mixing your tenses in a run-on sentence
"life was" and "it is" don't belong together that's where the trouble comes.
#3 Don't you wish life was like in the movies? and then continue by giving an example of some sort....
2007-08-24 09:53:47 · answer #10 · answered by james c 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋