Question

I wish my brother _____ (be) here.
Fill in the blank with the most suitable form of the given verb.
A) Will be
B) Would be
C) Were
D) None of these

Answer 1

Hint: This question is based on the topic of modal verbs. These are those verbs that indicate the chances or possibilities of something happening and not an actual action taking place. The actions in such sentences may or may not happen in future. Sentences talking about hypothetical situations are said to be in the ‘subjunctive mood’.

Complete answer:
The sentence given in the question begins with the words ‘I wish’, which means that the actions in the statement are not true. They are a wish or a hypothetical scenario. Therefore, this is an example of a ‘subjunctive’ sentence. Out of the given option ‘will’ indicates future, ‘would' indicates past and subjunctive’ and ‘were’ indicates only subjunctive. Now let us compare the options in detail.

Now let us look into the given options:
Option A) Will be – This verb is used for indicating the future tense and that too something with certainty. For e.g. “My brother will be here tomorrow” By saying this we are certain that the speaker's brother will be here tomorrow. But the sentence in the question is not certain, rather it is a wish. Therefore, this option is incorrect.
Option B) Would be – We use this verb when we want to refer to a hypothetical situation in the past. For e.g. “My brother would have been here if he hadn’t missed his flight”. This means that the speaker's brother missed his flight and that he is not with his brother because of that. The statement in the question is not hypothetical, but a wish. Therefore, this option is wrong.
Option C) Were – ‘Were’ is the correct form of the verb ‘be’ to be used in this case. This is a sentence in which the speaker is wishing for something to happen. In such a case, the ‘were’ form of the ‘be’ verb is always used. The sentence thus formed will be, I wish my brother were here. Therefore, this is the correct option.
Option D) None of these – This option is incorrect as we know that option (C) is the correct answer.

Thus, the correct answer is Option (C) I wish my brother were here.

Note: In this question we learn about the subjunctive mood in English grammar. As discussed earlier it is used for imaginary or hypothetical scenarios. When we form a sentence in the present subjunctive, we always use the base form of the verb irrespective of the pronouns. For e.g. “I hope they do something to make up for it” or “I hope she does something to make up for it.” The verb ‘do’ doesn’t change its form in either of the cases.