Verb forms following Wish

VERB FORM IN "TRUE" SENTENCE

A wish about the future

(a) She will not tell me.
I wish (that) she would tell me.

(b) He isn't going to be here.
I wish he were going to be here.

(c) She can't come tomorrow.
I wish she could come tomorrow.

A wish about the present

(d) I don't know French.
I wish I knew French.

(e) It is raining right now.
I wish it weren't raining right now.

(f) I can't speak Japanese.
I wish I could speak Japanese.

A wish about the past

(g) John didn't come.*
I wish John had come.

(h) Mary couldn't come.
I wish Mary could have come.

*Sometimes in very informal speaking: I wish John would have come.

Wish is used when the speaker wants reality to be different, to be exactly the opposite. Verb forms similar to those in conditional sentences are used.
Wish is followed by a noun clause. The use of that is optional. Usually it is omitted in speaking.


Cheers!
Naeem