Are these two interpretaions both available?

- "I wish I could say what I wanted(hypothetical present/future)."
- "I wish I could say what I wanted(real past action)."

Answers

Gezzza

8 Dec 2022

English (UK)
English (US)

A real past action? The meaning of wish does not allow for an action to have actually happened. If the action was "real", then you wouldn't have anything to wish for. You would say "I'm happy this real past action happened".

You can however say "I wish I could say what I had wanted", if you are referring to your wish for a "real past action" to have happened differently.

Highly-rated answerer

hhoc2000

8 Dec 2022

Korean

Anivia

9 Dec 2022

English (US)

The first one is correct.

The second one is correct if you mean:
I wish that right now I could say what I wanted in the past but don’t want anymore.

If I was in this situation, I’d probably reword it though. For example:
“I wish I could talk about what I wanted back then.”

If you wish that you talked in the past about what you wanted at the time:
“I wish I could’ve said what I wanted.”

Highly-rated answerer

hhoc2000

9 Dec 2022

Korean

@Anivia
Aha I see, yes, that's what I wanted to ask.

Then, to sum up, I guess it's classified this way? (by "what")

<hypothetical, counterfactual> (about "what")
- "I wish I could say **what I wanted(hypothetical present/future)**."
- "I wish I could say **what I had wanted(hypothetical past)**."

<factual> (about "what")
- "I wish I could say **what I wanted(real past)**."

And, by any chance, is it possible that **what I wanted** also means the hypothetical(counterfactual) past depending on the situation?