Why isn’t it "that was me"?

> I wish that was me. This is very common but not strictly correct. > I wish that were me. This correctly uses the past subjunctive for a hypothetical (or counterfactual) after the verb “wish.” You will hear both in speech and writing, but the second is the most technically correct. The past subjunctive of “be” for all persons and numbers is “were.” **Edit**: “here” -> “hear” because I’m a moron

They’re both accepted today, but the subjunctive mood (i.e. using “were” to express a wished-for contingency) is still considered “more” correct. I doubt any but the strictest editor is going to bust your chops on this.

both options work, though “that were me” is technically more grammatically correct. neither sound wrong and both get the exactly same point across

you use were when its hypothetical

Because, in fact, it wasn’t me. Subjunctive.

Both are fine. Were is “correct” but they’re used equally and interchangeably.

Just like in Spanish you don't say "ojalá fue yo", but rather "ojalá fuera yo". The big difference is that in English the subjunctive is almost completely invisible in everyday speech (past subjunctive to be is the most common case) and in colloquial speech it is often just ignored so it would not be strange to hear "that was me" even tho it's wrong.

They're using the subjunctive, but they're not using it correctly. It should be "that was me." "I would be glad if that were me" would be correct, because you're forming a conditional (if) where the clause is known to not be true. But the example you gave isn't a conditional, so subjunctive shouldn't be used in that case. (There are other uses of subjunctive. I'm just taking about how it's used when expressing this kind of thought.)

Subjunctive mentioned !!!

I think both would be understood, but 'were' seems correct due to some grammar rule that I intutively know, but can't explain, haha.

God, I wish I didn't know what that was from.

I think it's hilarious that BigJB21 uses the subjunctive mood but doesn't capitalise his deity or the first person.

Echoing others, the subjunctive mood 'were' is meant to express this kind of hypothetical scenario, but 'was' works just fine and would violate only some of the stricter style guides. This is a situation where language change is happening

Both work, what you said it’s just more formal Both must keep the I wish to retain meaning

It should be 'was'. Were is the plural and wrong for the singular subject. It's from a type of speaking that mixes up plural/single conjugations.