tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2851981677644878233.post3260839550593185699..comments2023-10-25T02:16:28.192-06:00Comments on Ryan's linguistics blog: I wish I would have...Ryan Denzer-Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04015316224715016479noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2851981677644878233.post-30008303918512187202013-06-19T06:01:58.875-06:002013-06-19T06:01:58.875-06:00By "proscriptive" I meant "from the...By "proscriptive" I meant "from the stance of proscriptive people". "Prescriptive" is more often used to mean the type of grammar people learn in an English class (which is obviously a different grammar than most people use), but I often use the term "proscriptive" to refer to this state of mind, since most prescriptive edicts are proscriptions, e.g., your claim that my use of "proscriptive" is "very confusing and absolutely incorrect". Perhaps I should have mentioned "I wish I would have" as a proscribed construction instead.Ryan Denzer-Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015316224715016479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2851981677644878233.post-38963351872164073842013-06-18T10:04:26.956-06:002013-06-18T10:04:26.956-06:00I wish you had used the word "prescriptive&qu...I wish you had used the word "prescriptive" instead of "proscriptive." Very confusing and absolutely incorrect, although it doesn't quite succeed at communicating the opposite of what you meant: "To proscribe" means to prohibit.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2851981677644878233.post-44276675519581649822009-11-16T02:41:57.960-07:002009-11-16T02:41:57.960-07:00I wish he had studied harder for the final exam --...I <i>wish he had studied harder</i> for the final exam -- it turned out to be harder than expected.<br /><br />I <i>wish he would have studied harder</i> for the final exam -- but his term grade was so low that he had given up hope.Largohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15082394436785605297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2851981677644878233.post-47317168186869855862009-07-01T13:27:32.438-06:002009-07-01T13:27:32.438-06:00On second thought, I think a case could be made fo...On second thought, I think a case could be made for "I wish I could have gone," since we would say "I wish I could go" in another instance. But for me, "could" still stands out as a conditional word, and one that suggests the future in some capacity.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12563244039494946185noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2851981677644878233.post-28878960502642332972009-07-01T13:24:50.100-06:002009-07-01T13:24:50.100-06:00The reason that it's "I wish I had gone&q...The reason that it's "I wish I had gone" and not "I wish I have gone" is because it's not actually an issue of tense, but of mood. Unfortunately, in English, most of our subjunctive use looks exactly like the past tense, which leads to people saying "I wish I was rich" instead of "I wish I were rich."<br /><br />And "I wish I could have" is also incorrect. "I wish I had been able to" would be a more correct construction, although I do find myself using the the former in speech from time to time.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12563244039494946185noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2851981677644878233.post-91109939976047085692009-01-09T21:47:00.000-07:002009-01-09T21:47:00.000-07:00Maybe it's analogy with the more acceptable wish I...Maybe it's analogy with the more acceptable <I>wish I could have</I>.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com