I wish I would get better

How about: "I wish I were better tomorrow?"

It's been a long time since I took English grammar lessons, and since I'm a foreigner myself, it's more of a question. I vaguely recollect that that's how we were taught it.... I think i'd just say "I hope I'm better tomorrow"... which is most likely not exactly grammatically correct.

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To me, "I wish I were better tomorrow" implies that you don't think it will happen.

'I hope I am better tomorrow" implies that you feel there is a likelihood that you will feel better tomorrow.

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dagmaraka wrote:

How about: "I wish I were better tomorrow?"

It's been a long time since I took English grammar lessons, and since I'm a foreigner myself, it's more of a question. I vaguely recollect that that's how we were taught it.... I think i'd just say "I hope I'm better tomorrow"... which is most likely not exactly grammatically correct.

I'm not a foreigner, Dagmaraka and all mine were questions too. I've actually been puzzling over this, off and on, for a few days now.

"I hope I'm better tomorrow" is perfectly grammatical, and more natural [much more natural ??] than the subjunctive form,

"I wish I were better tomorrow".

Still needs more thought. Confused

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Isn't it funny how the simplest phrases can tie you in knots sometimes.

What chance has the poor foreign learner got?

Very Happy

:wink:

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"I wish I were" won't do, because it refers to the present or the past, not the future.

All in all, "I hope" is more useful here, in a colloquial phrase.

imho.

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But I could say: "I wish I were a sailor", right?

As in I wish that was my job. Or "I wish I were braver" - I guess both refer to a state of being rather than something in the future or in the past.

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Yes but you can't say "I wish it were sunnier tomorrow" (I think?) because you are referring to a future event.

I wish I were in Carrickfergus, or
I wish I were a rich man,
Are okay.

That's what I meant.

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But you CAN say, "Oh, if only it were to be sunny tomorrow."

I hereby disqualify myself from the rest of this conversation.

Rolling Eyes

:wink:

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McTag wrote:

But you CAN say, "Oh, if only it were to be sunny tomorrow."

I hereby disqualify myself from the rest of this conversation.

:wink:

The word you're looking for is "conditional"

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I like what E.B. White wrote in "Elements of Style" -

"All writing is communication; creative writing is communication through revelation - it is the self escaping into the open."

I have frequently heard comments that English is the hardest language to learn as a "second language" let alone follow it's grammatical rules which are lacking in simplicity.

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Sglass wrote:

I have frequently heard comments that English is the hardest language to learn as a "second language" let alone follow it's grammatical rules which are lacking in simplicity.

Each language, Sglass, has it's own peculiarities that are hard for adults to learn but that children internalize and perform with ease. There are millions of rules that we all, even young children, unconsciously know. How else could we deploy them as easily as we do?

ESLs often try to learn English by thinking it out, [which they obviously have to do at times] but that is ultimately futile because not only do they have to understand the rules they have to know which verbs can be used in which situations.

+++++++++++++++++++

Yoong Liat wrote:

To me, "I wish I were better tomorrow" implies that you don't think it will happen.

'I hope I am better tomorrow" implies that you feel there is a likelihood that you will feel better tomorrow.

+++++++++++++++++++++

You're absolutely right, YL in your analysis. Now, I forget, did you say what nuance it was that you actually wanted to get across?

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Hi JTT

In the beginning, I wanted to know the following:

I have a fever. I wish I would get better tomorrow.

Is the second sentence correct?

That's what I wanted to know. Nothing more.

Best wishes.

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Too much information YL Laughing

Did you learn English as a child or as an adult. You seem to be quite adroit in your written verblization.

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Yoong Liat wrote:

Hi JTT

In the beginning, I wanted to know the following:

I have a fever. I wish I would get better tomorrow.

Is the second sentence correct?

It's perfectly correct, grammatically speaking, YL. It sounds a bit unnatural, perhaps because 'wish', being an unreal/counterfactual word, seems to drive this real event too far towards the unreal/counterfactual end of the spectrum.

I have a fever. I hope that I'm better by tomorrow.

If you want to weaken the "I hope" then you could add a 'would', as in,

I have a fever. I would hope that I'm better by tomorrow.

Of course mine isn't the only one that you could use. There have been some excellent suggestions made by others in this thread.

That's what I wanted to know. Nothing more.

Best wishes.

And the same to you, YL.

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Or is that "verbalisation" ?

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Sglass wrote:

Too much information YL

Did you learn English as a child or as an adult. You seem to be quite adroit in your written verblization.

My first lesson in English was when I started school. At that time my first lesson was writing the alphabet. That's why my English is not good enough.

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:lol:forgivness me QuinC i forgetterd to youse the spei Laughing

ller checkout

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I think you are doing a great job. Keep up the good work.

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I wish I would get better

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