I wish it be Christmas every day.
I wish it would be Christmas every day.
What is the subtle difference here? Does the first sentence imply that the speaker's wish is more strong?
asked Oct 19, 2015 at 10:21
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I'm pretty sure the first one isn't grammatical - if anything it should be "I wish it were" IMO.– Jez WOct 19, 2015 at 10:55
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1In the context of wishing something for the present, I'm afraid none is correct. So, I wish it was Christmas everyday.– Maulik VOct 19, 2015 at 11:04
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1@MaulikV Whoa?! Are we considering correct use of the subjunctive to be incorrect these days? "I wish it were Christmas" is subjunctive, although common usage has made it virtually archaic, these days. The simple present subjunctive form of the being verb is "be" (contrast with "is" for the indicative mood). So if you want to be super crazy purist, you should sound like a pirate and say "If this be correct grammar, I just don't know any more." Ref.: wordpower.ws/grammar/gramch09.html– Todd WilcoxOct 19, 2015 at 17:56
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3 Answers
I wish it be Christmas everyday.
Your first example isn't common usage and isn't grammatical in most settings.
"be" here as a bare infinitive is wrong; it should be conjugated. You have a few options. All of the options are past tense, and only vary based on their grammatical mood
Subjunctive mood:
This is probably the one I would go for in most situations.
I wish it were Christmas every day.
"The subjunctive mood is used to express a wish or possible situation that is currently not true." [Source]
I wish it was Christmas every day.
This is probably quite common among most native speakers. However it's technically incorrect, this is discussed in more detail in this question.
I wish it would be Christmas every day.
This is what you have used in your second example. However, I'd consider substituting "would" for "could".
I wish it could be Christmas every day.
As an aside, there's also a difference between everyday and every day. – TRiG
"everyday" means commonplace, plain, unremarkable
Breathing and eating are just some of my everyday requirements.
The groom got some funny looks for turning up to his wedding in everyday clothes.
"every day" means that something happens... well... every day.
I like to go swimming every day.
Every day except Sunday the post is delivered at 8am.
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Neat answer but as far as I know there cannot be indicative mood for unreal situations.– MrtOct 19, 2015 at 11:07
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Yeah, my original edit indicated (pun, lol) that it was technically incorrect. I've edited that back in. Oct 19, 2015 at 11:09
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2Most uses of would after wish are actually the by-your-leave sort: “I wish my parents would let me stay up late on weekends.” That is not a conditional use, but a volitional one. It means he wishes his folks were willing to let him stay up.– tchristOct 19, 2015 at 12:55
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@Trig, I wouldn't have noticed that distinction! I was just reading it as "every day" Oct 19, 2015 at 14:20
Maybe you heard the contraction "it'd" for "it would", making both sentences equal?
In "Standard" English, "I wish it be Christmas every day" is considered ill-formed. It might be well-formed in AAVE, which has a distinctly different set of rules for be, but I do not know for sure, and I can't tell you for sure what it would mean in that dialect if it were acceptable.
Your other option, "I wish it would be Christmas every day", is acceptable in Standard English, but "I wish it was Christmas every day" is more idiomatic. Native speakers will not register a difference of meaning between these two options.
(Regardless, what a horrible thing to want. They would never stop playing all that saccharine music on the radio!)
