From an interview with a pitcher:
"I wish I wouldn’t have started."
This is a case where the speaker made the verb tense more complicated than necessary. Why do you need two auxiliary (or helping) verbs: "wouldn't" and "have"? I dunno. You don't.
The sentence needs just one:
"I wish I hadn't started."
You can imagine yourself saying, "I wish you hadn't done that." You wouldn't say, "I wish you wouldn't have done that."
I hear this tense problem in other sentences, such as this:
"If she would have listened, I would not have put her in time out."
You need to change the first verb:
"If she had listened, I would not have put her in time out."
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2 comments:
The sentence still sounds strange to me.
Preferred:
"If she had listened, I would not have put her in time out."
Would that be incorrect?
Yes. I think I accidentally transposed the words: "I would not have" is better. I'll change it.
Thanks!
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