# I wish I was born in France



## JerseyRich

S'il vous plait.
Est-ce que c'est correct.

*I wish I was born in France*

*J'espere Je suis neé en France*

I think that this is correct, but I have a feeling that I'm wrong

Merci d'avance 

Richard


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## Blancheneige

"J'espère" = I hope (not I wish, which is "j'aimerais")
J'aimerais is followed by an infinitive (j'aimerais aller, j'aimerais manger... etc.)
So the right translation would be : "J'aimerais être né en France"


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## JerseyRich

Sorry, but I really thought J'espere was "I wish", or I can be used that way.

I love Lac Leman, it is such a beautiful part of Switzerland





Blancheneige said:


> "J'espère" = I hope (not I wish, which is "j'aimerais")
> J'aimerais is followed in infinitive (j'aimerais aller, j'aimerais manger... etc.)
> So the right translation would be : "J'aimerais être né en France"


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## Argyll

Wish, when it concerns the past, also means regretter.

Je regrette de ne pas être né en France.
Si seulement j'étais né en France.

Actually, in English, I would have said 'I wish I had been born in France'.


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## Blancheneige

Argyll said:


> Wish, when it concerns the past, also means regretter.


To add the right amount of nostalgy, we could also say "J'aimerais *tellement* être né en France"


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## JerseyRich

I think that i've got this correct.
Yes, one would love to have been born in France

Oui on aimerait avoir été né en France




Blancheneige said:


> To add the right amount of nostalgy, we could also say "J'aimerais *tellement* être né en France"


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## Pedro y La Torre

Je souhaite que je sois né(e) en France ?


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## Blancheneige

JerseyRich said:


> Oui on aimerait avoir été né en France


 
Almost there!  _Oui, on aimerait *être *né en France _("avoir été né" isn't correct)


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## Rouleau

Argyll said:


> Actually, in English, I would have said 'I wish I had been born in France'.



It's so difficult to master the use of the perfect tenses in either language.  The perfect tense is definitely called for in this case, JerseyRich, because if ever there was/is a sample sentence where the time referred to (the unspecified year/month/day of your birth) is *indefinite*, this is the sentence.


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## Argyll

I gave two correct constructions. I did not say there were more.


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## Jocaste

"*J'aurais (tellement) aimé naître en France*" sounds good also. 
Many phrases possible


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## Jocaste

Pedro y La Torre said:


> Je souhaite que je sois né(e) en France ?


Not correct : 
rather : _je souhaite être né en France._
But present isn't very used in this context.
We'd rather say : _je souhaiterais être né en France_ (pour cette tournure avec le verbe "_souhaiter_"  )


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## Argyll

Rouleau said:


> It's so difficult to master the use of the perfect tenses in either language.


It is not really difficult in the context of 'wish', provided one forgets about 'wish = souhaiter'. 

Just think of it as 'si seulement'. Then the construction in both languages becomes identical.

I wish I were in Rome : si seulement j'étais à Rome (simple past in both languages)
I wish I had worked harder : si seulement j'avais travaillé davantage (2 past perfects)
I wish I had not forgotten her birthday : si seulement je n'avais pas oublié son anniversaire (negative past perfect).

It is only when you try to translate 'I wish' as 'je souhaite' or 'je regrette' that trouble arises. 'Je regrette d'avoir oublié son anniversaire' : past infinitive, no negative form.

If you are after communication rather than sophisticated translation, think of 'I wish' as 'si seulement'.


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## Pedro y La Torre

Jocaste said:


> Not correct :
> rather : _je souhaite être né en France._
> But present isn't very used in this context.
> We'd rather say : _je souhaiterais être né en France_ (pour cette tournure avec le verbe "_souhaiter_"  )



Ah OK. Merci.


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