A few days ago
You know in the Simpsons episode where Bart gets a fake licence…?
and hires a car to go on a cross country trip with Milhouse, Martin and Nelson to the Tennessee Fair?
In a scene from that episode, he pretends to Marge and Homer he’s going an a school grammar trip, which Lisa doesn’t believe.
Anyway, Marge believes Bart instead of Lisa and says, “I wish I was going!” to the ‘trip’. She then corrects herself, saying, “I wish I were going.”
I’ve always wondered, was Marge right the second time? Or was she right the first time? Which sentence would have been correct in that situation, grammatically speaking?
Thanks for your help. 🙂
Top 3 Answers
A few days ago
Favorite Answer
“I wish I were going” is correct, if now little used. We use were rather than was because the sentence refers to the unreal future: Marge isn’t going, she only wishes she were. This use of were is now only commonly heard in expressions such as “If I were you …” (again the unreal: I am not you and never can be), although this too is slipping away into “If I was you”, which is wrong but all too common.
1
A few days ago
lol That’s an interesting question 😉 I want to know the answer too.
0
A few days ago
2nd one is right
1
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