Select the option that best completes the sentence: I wish ______
- (a)I could help you
- (b)I ought to help you
- (c)I did help you
- (d)I must help you
Correct — A, I could help you. After 'I wish', a present unreal wish about ability is expressed with the past-tense modal 'could': 'I wish I could help you' means 'I am not able to help you now, but I would like to be able to.' The other modals cannot follow 'wish' to form a hypothetical present wish — 'ought to' and 'must' express obligation, and emphatic 'did help' asserts a real past action.
- (b)I ought to help you — 'wish + ought to' is ungrammatical; 'ought to' states an obligation, not a hypothetical wish.
- (c)I did help you — Emphatic 'did help' asserts a real past action, so 'I wish I did help you' is not idiomatic; a present-ability wish needs 'could'.
- (d)I must help you — 'must' expresses necessity/obligation and cannot follow 'wish' to build a hypothetical present wish.
Grammar of 'wish': a wish about present ability or possibility takes the past-tense modal 'could' — 'I wish I could ...'.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Choose the correct completion: I wish I ______ taller.
- (a)am
- (b)were
- (c)will be
- (d)can be
Answer(b) were — after 'wish', a present unreal state takes the past subjunctive 'were'.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Complete the sentence: She wishes she ______ swim.
- (a)can
- (b)could
- (c)must
- (d)shall
Answer(b) could — a wish about present ability uses 'could'.