"Now, why? Because" - that was genius)) I have a friend that learns English and he always asks me about a lot of things. In 90% cases I'm just answering and can't explain, just because I don't remember rules. Now I know what to say to him :D
The problem with us native speakers is that we are apathetic and lazy with grammar. To learn another language is to actually learn English grammar because, in American schools, there are no true grammar classes in the required courses. I learned so much about English grammar when I began learning German, Spanish, and Latin. To have videos like this is really helpful: things that are not explained explicitly in other English classes are being taught well by those who learned and are learning English. Kudos to this channel.
Thank you Adam for simple and clear explanation. The lesson was shot more than 11 years ago, but still actual. I wish I had found this lesson earlier :-)
Good Afternoon Adam, i`m beginner speaker, but i`m grateful with your links, because these are very important in my learning. Thank you sooooo much!!!! And pleaseee, continue teaching us. Blessings
Thank you very much! 2.56 "It's two pasts back:."= Два шага назад в прошлое. Ещё дальше в прошлое. Да, тоже говорю:"Более прошлое время, показывая, что остаётся за спиной." It's two steps back, more further in past. Yes! I'm so say about that , this is more past tense = Past Perfect Tense.
I actually I love this lesson. when I was at school my teacher did not emphasize so much on grammar and never taught about subjunctive. The tenses I discovered myself later on in life.
as a native english speaker from england, i can honestly say that 'I wish I WAS rich' and 'i wish i WERE rich' mean the same thing, in fact I would say that 'i wish i WERE rich' is less used as it seems like you're trying to be posh (rich) haha
I noticed something important here When you said "the Doctor recommended he go to the hospital" Why go instead of goes? I think in this case you are talking about third person. I would like to know why go??? Please explain this to me
it´s because in this statement the verb "go" doesn´t mean present tense, it refers to an advice which is expressed like subjuntive mode "the doctor recommended " this is the phrase that expresses the advice" and afther this, the following verb is not conjugated, it goes in infinite without the particle "to" = "he go to the hospital"
I thinks that's because of to whom the doctor spoke to: "The doctor recommended he" I guess you'll also say "The doctor recommended him" which is a bit more formal than the first one. Let me know if I'm wrong :)
Adam you are a great teacher. My English has improved far from the point where I had started by watching your videos and studying it. Regards Vladimir from Russia.
I wish you had taught us English when we were students. We would have learned so much and might have probably been fluent in speaking. You rock! Cheers!
Adam I like you not only because you re a good teacher but also because you re sucj a respectful man! So classy through your simplicity!! I have a question: When we express wishes in the future! We sat simply (I wish I WOULD + stem) not (I wish I WOULD + have + pp) ?????
Amina TAHRI@ Subjunctive Wish cannot be followed by The past future perfect . Subjunctive wish is usually followed by Simple past/ past future and the past perfect. ex : i wish i had a car( simple past), i wish i would have a car ( past future), i wished i had had a car. The past future perfect is usually used for subjunctive if only and Conditional type III
Can I say that I wish " I had so much money or I've had so much money but in reality I didn't have nothing? I can't thank you enough for your positive helping!. I'm just speechless.
Hello Professor Thank you so much for your interesting information about English,i do appreciate your job.I wish you peace and happness under the sky of prosperity. Take care and have a good time. All the best. Your Student from Algeria
Why don you make a video with the negative and question forms of wish? I don't wish I were rich. I wish I weren't rich. I wish it wouldn't rain. Do you wish you were rich? Do you wish you weren't rich? Do you wish it would rain? ....are this sentences correct? Thank you.
wish indicates definitely "did not happen"/"definitely "will not happen "...I think imagination can not ask question, that is why Adam did not make any video about question form of wish.....
Adam, teacher, thank you for your class. I posted your video for my students in a online class for a public senior high school here in Mexico. Thank you for sharing.
I'm not sure your example "Bill Clinton wishes Hillary Clinton would be President." is correct. I think it would be better to say "Bill Clinton wishes Hillary Clinton were President." or use "would become." I have covered this topic in my videos. Feel free to have a look.
+Jeremy English Jeremy, you're still using the same wish-for-the-future construction when you say "would become." Adam used "would be" because he is focusing on the subjunctive forms of the verb "to be." However, you are probably correct that the more appropriate verb is "become" rather than "be" in that example.
Jeremy English Actually, it's "I wish I WERE." That's the whole point of this video -- using the past subjunctive to deal with contrary-to-fact wishes. Such wishes for the present always require the past subjunctive ("were," in this case, or simple past in the case of other verbs -- only "to be" still has a distinctive past subjunctive form); contrary-to-fact wishes for the past always require the past perfect subjunctive ("had" plus the main verb); and wishes for the future (which may or may not turn out to be true) take what might be called the conditional ("would" plus the main verb), although this construction is admittedly not common. In practice, English actually seems to avoid using the "wish/would" construction to refer to future events -- it really seems to prefer to use the verb "hope" and either the present or the future indicative ("Bill Clinton hopes that Hillary becomes [or will become] President.")
I don't think so. It's recommended to English teachers to always try to mention famous people like actors, singers, players, politicians, etc when they give examples.
please... now do it with the present subjunctive... just to clear the air!!! and improve my teaching.... Thanks Adam for all your videos they have been useful!!!!
+June Lee WRONG. "I wish I were rich" is always correct, because the situation is always going to be imaginary or contrary-to-fact. "Was" is called the indicative mood for a reason -- because it always INDICATES what is fact, not imagination or a hypothetical situation.
Both are grammatically correct because in modern English, the only thing needed to express a counterfactual situation is a past tense verb. If I was you = I'm not you, just as, If I were you = I'm not you. It works the same way with 'wish'.
June Lee It may be grammatically acceptable in informal English, but that does not mean that it is grammatically correct. The problem with the subjunctive in Modern English is that there are very few distinctive subjunctive forms left -- only "to be" has distinctive subjunctive forms in both the present and past tenses, and other verbs only have distinctive subjunctive forms in the third person singular of the present tense. But just because true subjunctive forms are rare in Modern English, that doesn't mean that we should just ignore the ones that do exist because it's easier. The majority of viewers on this channel are learning English as a second language, and deserve to have it taught correctly the first time. Why would you deliberately confuse them by directly contradicting the rules that Adam and I have set forth in the video and in this discussion thread?
+Lee Cox I just want to say that you are misinforming your audience by taking a prescriptivist standpoint. ESL students will take your lesson to heart and when they hear a native speaker use 'was' instead of 'were' they'll wonder why. It would be a good idea to add a little footnote that 'was' is informal and that students will hear it out in the real world.
Languages (especially English) are changing very very quickly, so it is difficult to establish which is the most natural/correct way of expressing something. On the other hand, examiners seem stuck in the traditional ways, maybe for the sake of some uniformity... Having said that, I think Adam does a great job indicating foreign students what is still the standard approach to the language and what they may encounter in the official exams. In my opinion, it's most desirable to keep an open and democratic mind when it comes to languages, but we also have to be practical sometimes.
I like your accent, but Valen said: ( I wish I was rich ). But I beleive you when you said ( I wish I were rich ). I prefer to follow your opinion! you're a very good teacher! thanks Adam!
I wish I were able to say I learned this in school. Sadly I wasn't blessed with a teacher who explained it this well. ( I wish you were here to give me feedback.) Thank you for your helpful video.
I'm relieved that there are videos on TH-cam explaining that "if I were" is correct and used in unrealistic situations. Recently my English teacher encircled the word "were" on my mock exam even though it was right; and I always hear her say "if I was".
I'm italian mother tongue and the subjunctive mood, although it has been recently replaced by the indicative, it's often used amongst italian speakers. Despite his grammatical structure shown in this video, the italian Subjunctive mood - both present and past either - is much more complex than english or french one and i'm aware foreign people who're trying to learn our tongue could be find themselves in trouble. That's why english is more studied than other languages, because for his simplicity and pragmatic attitude.
I wish I had a teacher like him in my face-to-face classes.
Correction: "I wish I *were*..."
🙃Just kidding! Yes, he is a very good teacher!
Thank you, Adam! The best explanation! I wish all teachers could explain the grammar rules like you.
"I wish all teachers could explain the grammar rules AS YOU DO."
Please contact me for more high-level grammar instruction- seriously, Bro.
Thanks teacher , your accent is easy to understand for me, you are great teacher. May GOD bless you!
"Now, why? Because" - that was genius))
I have a friend that learns English and he always asks me about a lot of things. In 90% cases I'm just answering and can't explain, just because I don't remember rules.
Now I know what to say to him :D
I wish I could speak English fluently ✌️😄🙏🏻
I am also
Go and search in youtube,"super hot,ohhhhh!"my reply😎😎😎
Don't wish work for it
I hope I can speak English (fluency or not)
I wish I spoke, guy)
Thanks!
That was an awesome class, teacher you're without a doubt a great teacher!
Thanks for sharing knowledge with us.
From Rio.
The problem with us native speakers is that we are apathetic and lazy with grammar. To learn another language is to actually learn English grammar because, in American schools, there are no true grammar classes in the required courses. I learned so much about English grammar when I began learning German, Spanish, and Latin. To have videos like this is really helpful: things that are not explained explicitly in other English classes are being taught well by those who learned and are learning English. Kudos to this channel.
I wish i could pass the exam
Excellent class teacher ! Thank you for the explanation ! I've got it !
It's clear! 3.09- 4.40 whole picture! Thank you for "were", that it's correct! I wish you were a teacher in our country. I wish I were your student.
Thank you Adam for simple and clear explanation. The lesson was shot more than 11 years ago, but still actual. I wish I had found this lesson earlier :-)
Adam yet another perfect explanation. Congratulations Adam for transmitting your teaching natural talent with us.
Good Afternoon Adam, i`m beginner speaker, but i`m grateful with your links, because these are very important in my learning. Thank you sooooo much!!!! And pleaseee, continue teaching us. Blessings
Thank you so much for your clear and always comprehensible and useful lessons!!
Great video! Really described the subjuntive verbs clearly! tnx💗
Great lessons! Good explanations, everything is clear. Thank you Adam!
Thank you very much! 2.56 "It's two pasts back:."= Два шага назад в прошлое. Ещё дальше в прошлое. Да, тоже говорю:"Более прошлое время, показывая, что остаётся за спиной." It's two steps back, more further in past. Yes! I'm so say about that , this is more past tense = Past Perfect Tense.
I wish I were rich.
I'm so sorry to hear that
sorry hopefully u become filthy rich
hehehehe amazing man
We wish we were richs !!
Subject and verb agreement???
God bless you. You are the best teacher that I have ever met.
I wish I knew your English classes earlier, by now I had learned a great deal more.
Thanks for teaching us Subjunctive, dear teacher.
I didn’t learn this grammar when i was younger, I wish I had learned it
I actually I love this lesson. when I was at school my teacher did not emphasize so much on grammar and never taught about subjunctive. The tenses I discovered myself later on in life.
as a native english speaker from england, i can honestly say that 'I wish I WAS rich' and 'i wish i WERE rich' mean the same thing, in fact I would say that 'i wish i WERE rich' is less used as it seems like you're trying to be posh (rich) haha
You have been simply a wonderful teacher! No one can hold a candle to you!
Oh my Goodness! I've finally got this!!! Thank you!
Teacher Adam, you're a fantastic teacher. In Peru the teachers are boring but when I enter in you youtube channel I learn new things, thank you.
woow this is amazing...thanks alot teacher..and I wish I could speak English like you
I wish I were a teacher like you.
Thank you so much for your clear explanation.
This was the best explanation I have ever had I couldn't wish for anything better.
I think you are a really good teacher. I wish i could understand all what native speakers say
I like the way you teach :-)
Adam is the best teacher in this youtube channel guys!!! ... i wish I'd be like him😀
Thanks Adam I enjoy your videos ..I wish I were a native English speaker..🤔
I like your accent. It's very clear. I can understand what you teach. Thank you very much.
Teacher Adam, thank you so much for one more interesting and inspiring class (Teacher André, from Brazil)
Can believe I found you here Andre! hahaha I was watching this video tonight! coll 8)
Estefani Oliveira Small world the one we live in. Miss you dear one. Drop by when around, ok? See ya :)
André Betti heey !!
Thanks for your explanations. They are very clear and you are a good teacher, too.
I noticed something important here
When you said "the Doctor recommended he go to the hospital"
Why go instead of goes?
I think in this case you are talking about third person.
I would like to know why go???
Please explain this to me
it´s because in this statement the verb "go" doesn´t mean present tense, it refers to an advice which is expressed like subjuntive mode "the doctor recommended " this is the phrase that expresses the advice" and afther this, the following verb is not conjugated, it goes in infinite without the particle "to" = "he go to the hospital"
Basically the present subjunctive in English is constructed using the infinitive of the verb dropping the "to"
You can say "goes" too, that's less "correct" but acceptable.
base form is required
I thinks that's because of to whom the doctor spoke to: "The doctor recommended he" I guess you'll also say "The doctor recommended him" which is a bit more formal than the first one.
Let me know if I'm wrong :)
Adam you are a great teacher.
My English has improved far from the point where I had started by watching your videos and studying it.
Regards
Vladimir from Russia.
hi lam from the future in 2024, thank you vere much, ❤
I wish you had taught us English when we were students. We would have learned so much and might have probably been fluent in speaking. You rock! Cheers!
Adam I like you not only because you re a good teacher but also because you re sucj a respectful man! So classy through your simplicity!! I have a question: When we express wishes in the future! We sat simply (I wish I WOULD + stem) not (I wish I WOULD + have + pp) ?????
Amina TAHRI yes he is من اين انت
Amina TAHRI@ Subjunctive Wish cannot be followed by The past future perfect . Subjunctive wish is usually followed by Simple past/ past future and the past perfect. ex : i wish i had a car( simple past), i wish i would have a car ( past future), i wished i had had a car. The past future perfect is usually used for subjunctive if only and Conditional type III
Bac Nana I'm from Algeria
i wish usually use for past not for future.
Wish refers to the regrets. So use wish expression when you are regreting something
Can I say that I wish " I had so much money or I've had so much money but in reality I didn't have nothing?
I can't thank you enough for your positive helping!.
I'm just speechless.
I wish I had is correct.
I wish you could read all comments, including mine.
Yes, you may say I'm dreamer... But I'm not the only one. ;)
you used right , things are not gonna happend
I wish you would not could
You really teach tough subjects in an easy way. Thank you for your great explanation
The subjunctive is a mood, not a voice. Active and passive are examples of voices, while indicative and subjunctive are examples of moods.
Hello Professor
Thank you so much for your interesting information about English,i do appreciate your job.I wish you peace and happness under the sky of prosperity. Take care and have a good time.
All the best.
Your Student from Algeria
Why don you make a video with the negative and question forms of wish?
I don't wish I were rich.
I wish I weren't rich.
I wish it wouldn't rain.
Do you wish you were rich?
Do you wish you weren't rich?
Do you wish it would rain?
....are this sentences correct?
Thank you.
wish indicates definitely "did not happen"/"definitely "will not happen "...I think imagination can not ask question, that is why Adam did not make any video about question form of wish.....
তিতলী মিতু ......I disagree with you...The point he has mentioned makes sense
Adam, teacher, thank you for your class. I posted your video for my students in a online class for a public senior high school here in Mexico. Thank you for sharing.
Subjunctive is not a voice but one of the English moods.
Ok superman
Thank you, I'm liking this Chanel. I'm brasilian and am learning to speak English!!
Классные уроки , Спасибо Адам =)
I really like the way of you teaching, so simple and understandable. Thanks for these great videos.
Adam you are the best teacher I have ever seen.
after 7 years Bill Clinton his wish didn't come true ;p
You make it easy!
Thanks Adam.
I wish I WERE a better student 😅
I wish I had the balls to propose my crush😁😊
You know what they say, you only live once. xD
I love the way you teach a lot!! I wish you were my teacher
I'm not sure your example "Bill Clinton wishes Hillary Clinton would be President." is correct. I think it would be better to say "Bill Clinton wishes Hillary Clinton were President." or use "would become." I have covered this topic in my videos. Feel free to have a look.
Adam is an English teacher, he's a native speaker. But I suppose Jeremy to be correct. Where are you, Adam? I AM CONFUSED.
+Jeremy English Jeremy, you're still using the same wish-for-the-future construction when you say "would become." Adam used "would be" because he is focusing on the subjunctive forms of the verb "to be." However, you are probably correct that the more appropriate verb is "become" rather than "be" in that example.
+Lee Cox State in wish forms is represented by the past tense. I wish I was etc. Thank you :)
Jeremy English Actually, it's "I wish I WERE." That's the whole point of this video -- using the past subjunctive to deal with contrary-to-fact wishes. Such wishes for the present always require the past subjunctive ("were," in this case, or simple past in the case of other verbs -- only "to be" still has a distinctive past subjunctive form); contrary-to-fact wishes for the past always require the past perfect subjunctive ("had" plus the main verb); and wishes for the future (which may or may not turn out to be true) take what might be called the conditional ("would" plus the main verb), although this construction is admittedly not common. In practice, English actually seems to avoid using the "wish/would" construction to refer to future events -- it really seems to prefer to use the verb "hope" and either the present or the future indicative ("Bill Clinton hopes that Hillary becomes [or will become] President.")
"Be" is not an action verb, that's why it cannot be used correctly with wish + would
the simplest explanation for wish verb I found ☺
I wish I found you earlier . Thanks a million!!
Anyone else find it suspicious that he talks about Hillary Clinton as president, when this video was posted in early 2013!!?!!?!!???
Illuminati...
Democrat detected!
I don't think so. It's recommended to English teachers to always try to mention famous people like actors, singers, players, politicians, etc when they give examples.
please... now do it with the present subjunctive... just to clear the air!!! and improve my teaching.... Thanks Adam for all your videos they have been useful!!!!
Don't believe this guy." I wish I was rich." is right. If you say "WERE" you just emphasise the situation is imaginary.
+June Lee WRONG. "I wish I were rich" is always correct, because the situation is always going to be imaginary or contrary-to-fact. "Was" is called the indicative mood for a reason -- because it always INDICATES what is fact, not imagination or a hypothetical situation.
Both are grammatically correct because in modern English, the only thing needed to express a counterfactual situation is a past tense verb.
If I was you = I'm not you,
just as,
If I were you = I'm not you.
It works the same way with 'wish'.
June Lee It may be grammatically acceptable in informal English, but that does not mean that it is grammatically correct.
The problem with the subjunctive in Modern English is that there are very few distinctive subjunctive forms left -- only "to be" has distinctive subjunctive forms in both the present and past tenses, and other verbs only have distinctive subjunctive forms in the third person singular of the present tense. But just because true subjunctive forms are rare in Modern English, that doesn't mean that we should just ignore the ones that do exist because it's easier.
The majority of viewers on this channel are learning English as a second language, and deserve to have it taught correctly the first time. Why would you deliberately confuse them by directly contradicting the rules that Adam and I have set forth in the video and in this discussion thread?
+Lee Cox I just want to say that you are misinforming your audience by taking a prescriptivist standpoint. ESL students will take your lesson to heart and when they hear a native speaker use 'was' instead of 'were' they'll wonder why. It would be a good idea to add a little footnote that 'was' is informal and that students will hear it out in the real world.
June Lee So they'll learn to speak English better than many native speakers do. Why is that a bad thing? :-)
You are the best teacher
I like how you explaine
Thank you mr
Languages (especially English) are changing very very quickly, so it is difficult to establish which is the most natural/correct way of expressing something. On the other hand, examiners seem stuck in the traditional ways, maybe for the sake of some uniformity... Having said that, I think Adam does a great job indicating foreign students what is still the standard approach to the language and what they may encounter in the official exams. In my opinion, it's most desirable to keep an open and democratic mind when it comes to languages, but we also have to be practical sometimes.
Adam you're the best teacher ever!
I hope you realise how much you have helped me
Important lesson... about something very helpful! and i like your accent... is understandable to students.. so does me. Thanks!
I like your accent, but Valen said: ( I wish I was rich ). But I beleive you when you said ( I wish I were rich ). I prefer to follow your opinion! you're a very good teacher! thanks Adam!
Thanks teacher!! Kiss from Brazil!
I wish I were able to say I learned this in school. Sadly I wasn't blessed with a teacher who explained it this well. ( I wish you were here to give me feedback.) Thank you for your helpful video.
I wish I were ur student, I wish I were a teacher like u!! I wish I could speak English as fluent as you do..
Thanks for your video. Helping people in 2023.
My favourite teacher... Honourable Adam Sir
greatest teacher ever! I love your videos!
thank you for making the lesson simple now it's easy for me to talk about wishes in past present and future you are an excellent teacher
I wish that I were in your lesson in a person you are the best teacher ever
You are my favorite English teacher.
I wish I had found this video sooner, thank you 👏
Sir Say's
I was very bad student
But you are very good student
That's why you come here
😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
Teacher when we use “would” before wish section what should we use in wish section as a tense?
Your English is so easy to understand... Thanku... I am from India..
The best teacher Ihave ever seen.
So clear and concise! Just hit on the main point to clear the confusion. Thanks!
Clean and To The Point. Helpful
You are the best teacher! I finally understand this!
Thanka Adam for your brilliant lessons.
At 1:40 not we must use 'the' before 'President'?
I'm relieved that there are videos on TH-cam explaining that "if I were" is correct and used in unrealistic situations. Recently my English teacher encircled the word "were" on my mock exam even though it was right; and I always hear her say "if I was".
Clear and correct! Perfect!
I'm italian mother tongue and the subjunctive mood, although it has been recently replaced by the indicative, it's often used amongst italian speakers. Despite his grammatical structure shown in this video, the italian Subjunctive mood - both present and past either - is much more complex than english or french one and i'm aware foreign people who're trying to learn our tongue could be find themselves in trouble. That's why english is more studied than other languages, because for his simplicity and pragmatic attitude.
I understand every word you pronounce.It makes me happy.THANK YOU!
You are a perfect teacher👏🏻 thank you so much👍 I wish I knew you sooner
one of the best teachers in my list
I'm gonna teach 'Wish" today.soI should be thankful of you !
Better explanation, go ahead
From Bangladesh 🇧🇩
Danke shön herr adem😊
Thank you very very much
My teacher do give me class work on this but I do fail.
But since I watched this video it became way easy for me.
I wish I were with you😊😊😊
Kudos to u
highly appreciate u
I could understand this gramme now properly moreover I have done the quiz which I got all of them correct.
Adam, you are great!!!! That's So easy now... Tks a lot!!!
A great English subject to teach. Thank you.