Many a time, many a man etc. means many times, many men etc. When we use these expressions we intend to explain a situation where the subject is plural. But structurally ‘many’ follows a plural verb whereas ‘many a’ follows a singular verb though both mean more than one.

EXAMPLES:

• Many men have come here with the same request.
  OR
  Many a man has come here with the same request.
  (here also it means more than one man)
• We have been there many times.
  (OR – you can say –  We have been there many a time)
• I have told you many times not to go there.
  (OR – I have told you many a time not to go there)
• Many young girls have approached the director for a chance in the film.
  (OR – Many a young girl has approached the director for a chance in the film)

This part deals with the past wishful thinking of someone about how good/happy it would have been to possess /have something in the past though actually they didn’t possess it.

EXAMPLES.

• He wished he had had a pet dog when he was a boy..(i.e He wished so but he didn’t have it)
• She wished she had had a post graduation in Science.(i.e she wished so but didn’t have..)
• She wished she had had long hair.
• The Head Mistress wished the school had had a beautiful garden.
• John wished he had had a motor bike.
• The poor man wished he had had a house of his own.

Note: In all the above cases the subject of the sentence wished to possess something which actually they didn’t possess.  The past perfect form of ‘ Had’ is ‘Had Had” and therefore in order to show an unfulfilled wish or desire ,we have to use ‘ HAD HAD’ and Not ‘HAD’.

This part deals with a past non-existent state which one viewed with a sense of loss. Or in other words it refers to an unsuccessful state in the past which one thought of wishfully.

EXAMPLES.

• I wished I had been healthy like you. ( i.e I wished to be healthy like you but I was not…)
• I wished I had been a film star like Mammootty.(I wished  but unfortunately I was not a star like Mammootty)
• She wished she had been as beautiful as Iswarya Ray. ( she wished so but she wasn’t….)
• He wished he had been as strong as Mohammed Ali.( he wished so but he was not……….)
• I wished I had been so rich to buy a ship.( I wished so but I was not……..)

Note: Here the reporting verb should be in the past (i.e wished) and note the sequence of verb of which the the third form is to be used invariably in this case and the verb pattern is given below for you easy grasp.

Am/Is/Are —-Was/Were——Had been.

The following items deal with the past thinking of someone relating to a past action /situation that went unrealised or not attained.  He imagined a non-fact to be an actual fact.  He thought how good it would have been if something realised or happened favourably.  Part -3 is more or less the same as part 2 except that it relates to a past situation not realised , but reported in the past itself.  Here the reporting verb should be in the past.( i.e  ‘ I wished’ , and NOT ‘I wish’.  That is the only difference.  It can be viewed in three perspectives, viz (a) action based, (b) state based (c) possession based.

STRUCTURE :  Use Past Perfect Tense after ‘ Wished’.

EXAMPLES ( action based).

• I wished I could have sung like him.( i.e in the past I wished something which I was not able to do)
• They wished they could have built a palatial house.(i.e it was their unsuccessful desire and they regretted it in the past)
• I wished I could have run like P.T.USHA.
• She wished she could have passed the exam with a first class.
• I wished I could have helped you.
• I wished I had known his phone number.
• I wished it had not been raining.(i.e I wished so, but it was raining)
• He wished he hadn’t had to work on Sundays.(i.e against what he wished, he had to work on Sundays.)

This part deals a past non-existent state which one remembers with a sense of loss. Or in other words, it refers to the present thinking of someone about an unsuccessful state in the past.

Structure : Use past perfect of “were/was”  (i.e had been) .

EXAMPLES.

• I wish I had been healthy like you. (i.e I was not healthy like you)
• I wish I had not been a heart patient.(  but unfortunately I was a heart patient)
• She wishes she had been as beautiful as Iswarya Ray . ( but she was not….)
• He wishes he had been as strong as Mohammed Ali.( but he was not…)
• She wishes Tomi had been there to help her out.( i.e Tomi was not there…)

This part deals  with the present thinking of someone about a past situation.  Here one imagines wishfully of a past situation which didn’t take place as he thinks now. We use the past perfect tense after ‘Wish’ to imagine a non-fact to be an actual fact in the past.  We express our regret that something was not as we liked it to be. It can be viewed in three perspectives, viz (a) action based (b) state based (c) possession based.

structure : Past Perfect Tense after ‘Wish’.

EXAMPLES

• I wish I could have sung like him. (i.e now I understand with some sense of loss that I was not able to sing like him.)
• They wish they could have built a palatial house.( but they couldn’t)
• I wish I could have run like P.T.Usha.( but I couldn’t)
• She wishes she could have passed the exam with a first class. ( but she couldn’t)
• He wishes he could have helped his poor neighbour. ( but the fact is that he couldn’t)
• I wish I had known his phone number .( i.e I didn’t have his phone number)
• I wish it had not been raining.( but it was raining then)
• He wishes he hadn’t had to work on Sundays. ( but he had to…)
• I feel sick.  I wish I hadn’t eaten so much cake.( i.e I regret I ate so much of cake)
• I wish I had known that Ravi was sick.  I would have gone to see him.( but I didn’t know he was sick)

Note: All the above sentences refer to the present thinking of someone about their past unsuccessful wishes.

This part deals with the wishful thinking of someone about how good/happy it would be to have/possess something in the present though actually they don’t possess it.

• She wishes she had a post-graduation in Science.(but she has no PG in Science)
• He wishes he had a CRETA car.( i.e actually he doesn’t possess a CRETA car)
• She wishes she had long beautiful hair.(  NOT she has long…)
• The Head Mistress wishes the school had a beautiful garden.(NOT school has…)
• John wishes he had a motorbike.(NOT he has.a botorbike..)
• The poor man wishes he had his own house.(NOT the poor man wishes he has…….)
• I wish I had enough money to help you ( but the fact is that I don’t have enough money)

This part deals with the present thinking of someone about a non-existent state which someone wishes for.

EXAMPLES.

• I wish I was/were healthy like you. (i.e I’m not healthy like you)
• I wish I weren’t a heart patient. ( but unfortunately I am a heart patient)
• She wishes she was/were as beautiful as Iswarya Ray.( but she isn’t)
• He wishes he was/were as strong as Mohammed Ali.
• I wish it was/were possible.
• It’s very crowded here.  I wish there weren’t so many people.(but there are a lot of people)
• I wish he were/was here to see all my achievements.( but he is no more to witness my achievements)