Rock'n'roll grammar – Pink Floyd "Wish you were here" – B1

In this beautiful song, the Pink Floyd band members wish their deceased friend Syd Barrett were near them.

To express their wish, they use "wish" followed by "to be" in the preterit.

 - WISH + WAS or WERE (to be in the preterit).

Eg: I wish I was here, I wish you were here, I wish he/she/it was here,

I wish we were, I whish you were here, I wish they were here

Anyway, if you are a little bit lazy, you can also use were for any persons, singular or plural (a little more formal).

Eg: I whish I/you/he/she/it/we/you/they were here

To go further: If you want to read the lyrics, stop wishing, here they are : Wish you were here