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could you lend a hand in this exercise? What should I put in the blank below, in terms of non-finite verbs? I wish my homework _______ (finish) before five oclock, and then Ill go out to play.

I am not sure whether it should go like which one of the below sentences: 1.I wish my homework finished_ (finish) before five oclock, and then Ill go out to play. 2.I wish my homework to be finished (finish) before five oclock, and then Ill go out to play. ("to do" is used here to indicate future actions)

Thanks in advance!

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The past participle is the right form of the secondary verb to use. However, the bare passive finished is not very idiomatic. The passive infinitive to be finished is fine.

I wish my homework to be finished before five o'clock, and then I'll go out to play.

Cambridge Dictionary explains wish and gives an example of a wish + object + infinitive construction:

We can use an object ... before the to-infinitive:

I did not wish my family to know about Sara, so I told them nothing.

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    The "active" verb often makes a difference. It's not very idiomatic to use the bare passive finished after wish, but it's normally fine after want. For the avoidance of doubt, though, it's probably better to stick with the passive infinitive construction to be finished, which work for both. Note that can be finished is only likely after a different main verb, such as I hope my homework can be finished before...
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Sep 29 at 11:20
  • Thanks, @FumbleFingers. I've edited my answer.
    – Seowjooheng Singapore
    Commented Sep 29 at 12:47
  • Thanks to both of you. I think I am better off now.
    – user397844
    Commented Sep 30 at 14:02
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OP's query on infinite verbs

I wish my homework _______ (finish) before five oclock, and then Ill go out to play.

Both the infinitives (to be finished/ finish) does not work. The correct answers are

  1. I wish my homework would finish before five oclock, and then Ill go out to play. (conditional sentence)
  2. I wish my homework were finished before five oclock, and then Ill go out to play. (hypothetical)

For using infinitive you would have to use "want".

  1. I want to finish my homework before five oclock, and then Ill go out to play
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  • Agreed. Neither of the choices offered end well for the sentence. In such questions, you get bad answers, okay answers (these 2), and one sweet answer.
    – Yosef Baskin
    Commented Sep 29 at 13:54
  • A task that one is doing oneself doesn't "finish". A movie might finish, or a software update. We only say "I want this to finish" to express the idea that we are not able to make it so. "I wish this would finish! It's been on 99% for 30 minutes, for pete's sake!"
    – TimR
    Commented Sep 29 at 16:14
  • "I'm going to start my homework early because I want my homework to be finished before it gets dark, so I can go outside and play some basketball."
    – TimR
    Commented Sep 29 at 16:15
  • @TimR I want to finish this job". nytimes.com/2000/08/08/nyregion/…
    – James Mathai
    Commented Sep 29 at 16:44
  • @JamesMathai finish is transitive there. The job itself isn't finishing, as in "I want this job to finish."
    – TimR
    Commented Sep 29 at 17:02

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