Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
I’m small. I wish I ____ small.
(a)am not
(b)was
(c)were
(d)weren’t

Answer 1

Hint: Second conditional or Type 2 conditional sentences utilize a simple past tense form of the verbs. We often use a plural verb, ‘were’ with ‘I, he, she, it’ in second conditional sentences.

Complete answer:
As given in the hint, second conditionals express statements that are imaginative or impossible to occur in real life.
Now, let’s examine the given options-
(a)‘am not’ is an incorrect option because one cannot use ‘am not’ to indicate the past tense of a verb, also we generally use ‘were’ with ‘I’ in second conditionals.
(b)‘was’ is an incorrect option because the use of ‘was’ changes the sense of the sentence and makes it illogical.
(c)‘were’ is an incorrect option because it also changes the sense of the sentence and makes it completely different.
(d)‘weren’t’ is the correct option because we often use this form of the verb with ‘I’ in formal writings. Also, it helps in portraying the desired meaning.
In the given question- We can conclude that X is small and she wishes that she weren’t small. Here, we have used ‘were’ with the pronouns to indicate unrealistic statements and out of the question.

Note: Keep in mind, the only difference between first conditional and second conditional is that the latter portrays imaginary or impossible statements while the former states realistic statements.