I wish I had never been born (1)

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I wish I had never been born
Message from nutmeg1906 posted on 27-11-2010 at 19:08:55
Hello,
It is not a moment of depression but just an example of "wish" + past perfect tense (past meaning) vs + past tense (present meaning).
I think that "I wish I had never been born" is the only correct form, but I heard the expression "I wish I wasn't born" used by some English-speaking people.
Is it correct?
If so, what's the difference between the two?
Thank you!

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Edited by lucile83 on 27-11-2010 19:12



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Edited by lucile83 on 07-12-2010 09:25

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Re: I wish I had never been born by dolfine56, posted on 27-11-2010 at 23:03:51
Bonsoir,
Il me semble que les deux phrases sont correctes, et se traduisent ,toutes les deux par :
je souhaiterais ne jamais être né.

d'autres avis pour confirmer...ou pas...---

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Edited by lucile83 on 07-12-2010 09:24
This is the English Only Forum

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Re: I wish I had never been born by notrepere, posted on 28-11-2010 at 02:58:37
Hello!

With "I wish...", you use the past perfect to express a regret, or that you want a situation in the past to be different.

So only the first one is correct. You can say "I was born on May 1st, 1992" or "I wasn't born yesterday!" [idiom], but in this situation, "I wish I wasn't born" is technically incorrect.

Have a look at this:

Lien Internet


and:

Lien Internet


I hope this helps.

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Re: I wish I had never been born by dsmith, posted on 28-11-2010 at 03:31:05
Hello,
I wish I wasn't born is incorrect. The correct way to say it is I wish I hadn't been born.

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Edited by lucile83 on 28-11-2010 09:10

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Re: I wish I had never been born by the7sisters, posted on 07-12-2010 at 08:42:58
hi everyone,

Si seulement je pouvais parler Anglais ( pour le présent, au moment où l'on parle)

I wish I could speak English ( preterit utilisé dans le présent)

Si seulement j'avais étudié l'Anglais ( dans le passé, avec des regrets)

I wish I had studied English ( pluperfect utilisé dans le passé)

got it? Sure !
have a nice day
Andrew = the 7 sisters

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Edited by lucile83 on 07-12-2010 09:21
This is the English Only Forum.

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