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Ten Things I Wish I Knew When I Started 'Pokémon GO  (Forbes title)

"I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" is a gospel/jazz song written by Billy Taylor

17 Things I Wish I Did Before Turning 35

Are these sentences correct in the past tense or do they require past perfect?

I am asking these because a lot of grammar sites explain as past perfect should be used for wishes for the past?

Community
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aintnosunshinewhenyouaregone
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2 Answers2

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Ten Things I Wish I Knew When I Started 'Pokémon GO-Forbes title

"I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" is a gospel/jazz song written by Billy Taylor

17 Things I Wish I Did Before Turning 35

Are these sentences correct in mere past tense or do they require past perfect?

They don't require past perfect because they are noun dependent clauses, the direct objects of the transitive verb "Wish," coming after "I Wish." The relative pronoun "that" has been omitted, which is common practice when the dependent clause has its own subject:

Ten Things I Wish (that) I Knew When I Started 'Pokémon GO [I wish I knew ten things when I started 'Pokémon GO]

I Wish (that) I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free [Sometimes "that" has no function in a noun clause except to introduce the clause, and here it's simply been omitted too; however, the noun clause itself has a noun clause as its direct object: I knew | how it would feel to be free]

17 Things I Wish (that) I Did Before Turning 35 [I wish I did 17 things before turning 35]

Arch Denton
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These rules are often violated by native speakers of English, and these liberal, incorrect uses can be confusing for people trying to learn the English language. You are right in thinking there are mistakes in these examples.

The first example should use the past perfect. It is incorrect as written because it is not possible to "know" something in an instant, such as would be appropriate when using the past tense. Instead, it should read:

Ten Things I Wish I Had Known When I Started 'Pokémon GO

The second example is different. The speaker is not wishing that something had been true in the past. Rather, the speaker is wishing for something to be true in the present and should therefore use the present tense (or, more appropriately for this specific case, an infinitive). This phrasing is awkward because it's applying a technical fix to colloquial speech, but here's what it might look like if written with proper grammar:

I Wish To Know How It Would Feel to Be Free

The third example is referring to 17 different things the writer wishes she or he had done, and of course it's not possible to have done all of these things in a single act (probably). Therefore, it would be better to write it using the past perfect.

17 Things I Wish I Had Done Before Turning 35

R Mac
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    I wish to know ... is talking about the *future. You don't know, but you hope to know later. I wish I knew ...* is talking about the present, and is perfectly grammatical and probably the best tense for the second example. I wish I had known ... is talking about the past, so it would be preferable for the first example. – Peter Shor Aug 31 '16 at 17:58
  • What do you mean it's not possible to know something in an instant? Of course it is. Life is made up of instants, so you're basically saying it's impossible to know. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Nov 29 '16 at 23:19