English Language & Usage Asked by user8104 on December 11, 2020
You don’t own a motorbike and you need one.
You say:________________________ (own).
(a)I wish I owned a motorbike.
(b)I wish I could own a motorbike.
This is one of the questions in the test I gave my students. For the item that require the use of can, the word can is given in the parenthesis, e.g. (can/go).
For this item, the correct answer is owned, but a few students used could own. It sounds unnatural to me, but I’m not sure if I should give it a mark.
To me, "could own" means something different from "owned": (a) means that I don't own a motorbike, and I wish things were otherwise. (b), on the other hand, implies not just (a), but also that there's something blocking me from owning a motorbike, such as a law or city ordinance.
However, (a) I wish I owned a motorbike. (c) I wish I could have a motorbike. sound nearly-synonymous to me.
Answered by arensb on December 11, 2020
The "I wish" structure usually demands that the following verb be/is put in the conditional mode in many languages, including in English. In English a past tense modal verb like "could" is used. Here is the explanation.
Past tense modals would and could are used about wishes for the future:
Past simple and continuous are used to talk about wishes for the present.
So, let's compare using the first example. I could say:
VERSUS
In the first example, the person does not give the impression that it could happen, that it can be possible that he or she could get a better job.
Still, the question has this: "You don't own a motorbike and you need one. " This would tilt the next sentence to use the "could" because there is a desire or a need to need one.
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar-reference/wishes-and-hypotheses
Answered by peter d. on December 11, 2020
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