Verb mood, often (mis-)
used in optative
statements, such as, "I wish I were on
Everything's Best Users" (which is correct grammatically). The misuse shows up the much more common "I wish I
was..." that most people seem to use. The best way to remember that this way is wrong is to think of "
If I were a rich man", some say.
Used more often in other languages, like Latin and its derivatives.