Mikhail
I wish my car never broke down. Which tense used in that sentence? Could someone to give me a clue?
Aug 28, 2014 4:05 AM
Answers · 3
2
This is how I read it: "I wish my car never broke down" This is referring to an on-going state of your car. For example, one might say: "I wish my car never broke down, but it does all the time." I think these are both present tense. To refer to a specific event in the past (of the car breaking down), you would say: "I wish my car had never broken down." OR "I wish my car had not broken down." OR "I wished (past tense) my car had never broken down"
August 28, 2014
1
It's not really a tense. "Broke" is in past subjunctive form, so we understand it as the unreal present.
August 28, 2014
Could someone give me a clue?
August 28, 2014
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