In school we learned that the past tense of "to be" for "he" is "was". But now I stumbled upon the following phrase on the internet:
He wishes he were born rich.
Why is "were" instead of "was" used here? What is the exact rule?
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2Does this answer your question? [Why is it "If I were you" and not "If I was you"?](https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/23853/why-is-it-if-i-were-you-and-not-if-i-was-you) Also more specifically, ["I wish I was" vs. "I wish I were"](https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/244909/i-wish-i-was-vs-i-wish-i-were), but all the answers to that one are in comments, so I can't cite it as the primary duplicate. – FumbleFingers Jan 03 '22 at 16:45
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@FumbleFingers yes, thank you! :) – manifestor Jan 03 '22 at 16:46
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Ah - so you didn't need that second link anyway! :) – FumbleFingers Jan 03 '22 at 16:47
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This "were" is not a tense form, but a mood form, sometimes called 'irrealis', indicating that it conveys varying degrees of remoteness from factuality. The irrealis mood form "were" is unique to _be_, and limited to the 1st and 3rd person singular. It's an untidy relic of an earlier system, and some speakers usually, if not always, use preterite "was" instead. – BillJ Jan 03 '22 at 17:06