Abattoires and Atheists

caringnihilist replied to your post: An Absolute Must Read

I rely on my instincts far too much for grammar, but I’ll take a shot at this. The “I’d had” is always troubling, but it all looks good. I think the “I wish I didn’t” (3.) should be “I wish I hadn’t worked so hard”. I await my score.

A BILLION POINTS TO YOU!!

“I wish I didn’t” is a continuous past (indicating that it occurred in the past, but has the potential to happen again—an unlikely scenario for a terminally ill person in this case), where “I wish I hadn’t” is a simple past (indicating it was done once, and only in the past). I hate myself for always picking up on these things, but I had the greatest Latin prof ever for 5 years, so I’m just stuck this way.

And agreed, “I’d had” is just plain awkward, but grammatically sound.