1

I was watching a TV show, and this girl said:

I just wish that once, I'd bring a guy home that they actually liked.

Shouldn't it be like this? :

I just wish that once, I'd bring a guy home that they actually like.

Didn't she mean 'I wish they'd like my future boyfriends'?

I think this is OK:

I just wish that once, I brought a guy home that they actually liked.

But the way she said it sounds strange to me.

Improve this question
11
  • Isn't it "Big Bang Theory"? I also thought it sounded weird when I first heard it. But there are a lot of grammatical mistakes in the show. I think liked should be changed to like/will like.
    – user140086
    Oct 16, 2015 at 11:40
  • @Rathony No, it's correct as it stands. Wish takes a backshifted conjecture.
    – tchrist ♦
    Oct 16, 2015 at 11:59
  • 1
    @Rathony I cannot see why you think there has to be an object, nor why you think the sentence as written is somehow ungrammatical.
    – tchrist ♦
    Oct 16, 2015 at 12:12
  • 4
    Or, better, Tense change: previous actions on something that's currently true.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Oct 16, 2015 at 12:24
  • 2
    @tchrist I know that wish takes a backshifted conjecture (hence the final example) , but not after would.
    – Færd
    Oct 16, 2015 at 12:25

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
0

The original sentence is correct.

You are correct in your assertion but the sentence also uses the past tense '-ed' to inform us that it has happened before.

i.e. she has brought back a guy home more than once and her parents did not like them and she wishes they they would for once.

Improve this answer
2
  • 2
    This isn't quite right. What’s happening is that backshifting is being used in liked because wish takes a hypothetical conjecture, so it has to be in the past tense. There is no definitive implication of repetition or previous occurrence.
    – tchrist ♦
    Oct 16, 2015 at 11:58
  • @tchrist sounds right to me.
    – michael_timofeev
    Oct 16, 2015 at 16:28
0

In a comedy show, sometimes grammatical principles are not strictly followed to make people laugh.

The sentence would be clearer if rephrased to:

If (once) I'd bring a guy home, I just wish that they actually liked him.

I just wish that once, I'd bring a guy home that they actually liked.

Here, that seems to be used as a "relative pronoun" as the object of the verb liked is missing. However, it is not difficult to understand that liked is backshifted in a I wish construction which uses a subjunctive mood.

Improve this answer
11
  • Shouldn't "that" be replaced with "who" since we're talking about a person?
    – michael_timofeev
    Oct 16, 2015 at 16:38
  • @michael_timofeev That can be used in place of who / which that are objective and subjective relative pronouns except for a few cases, one of which is when "preposition" is used before whom/which. You can't use that after of.
    – user140086
    Oct 16, 2015 at 16:42
  • I dunno...the sentence in yellow seems kinda fishy...
    – michael_timofeev
    Oct 16, 2015 at 16:42
  • Ok but then shouldn't who be whom?
    – michael_timofeev
    Oct 16, 2015 at 16:44
  • In other words, whom becomes the object of liked...
    – michael_timofeev
    Oct 16, 2015 at 16:48

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.