Talk about regrets and wishes
I can say that I am sorry about the way things are now, and complain about someone else's behaviour.
Declared core time. Two of the core blocks carry no figure at all, so the real lesson is longer than this sum.
Grammar
15 minIn B1 #8 the past tense after if took us away from reality: If I had more time… — there is no time. I wish works in the same way. It is the English way to say "it's a pity that…" or "how nice it would be if…".
The form: I wish + subject + the past tense. The verb is in the past, but it is about today.
| as it is | regret |
|---|---|
| I don't have a car. | I wish I had a car. |
| I can't swim. | I wish I could swim. |
| I have to work on Saturdays. | I wish I didn't have to work on Saturdays. |
| It's raining. | I wish it wasn't raining. |
| I'm not very tall. | I wish I were taller. |
The main thing: the sign changes. Look at the table: where life says "no", the regret says "yes", and the other way round. I wish I had a car — "it's a pity I don't have a car". I wish I didn't have to work — "it's a pity I have to work". In many languages the usual way to say this names what is true: French dommage que je n'aie pas de voiture, German schade, dass ich kein Auto habe ("a pity I have no car"). The English sentence names what you want ("I want it to be so"). That is why, when you translate, a negative disappears or appears.
Why the past. I wish I had a car is really the first half of the conditional sentence from B1 #8 without the second half: "if I had a car…". Here too the past form means "this is not so in reality". If you have learnt If I had…, then I wish I had… is built in exactly the same way; the two often stand side by side: I wish I had a car. If I had a car, I'd drive to work.
With be, were works for all persons, as in If I were you; in conversation was too. Ability is given by could: I wish I could drive. Obligation is didn't have to, because must has no past form (A2 #10).
If only is the same, but stronger, almost an exclamation: If only I had more time! — the speaker badly wants more time.
I wish + would — I want something to change. People say this about someone else's behaviour that annoys them, and about things that do not depend on us: I wish you would stop interrupting me. — "stop interrupting me" — with a reproach. I wish it would stop raining. — "I really want the rain to stop". would looks forward: the person may start behaving differently. You don't say this about yourself: you change your own behaviour yourself, without wish. Instead of ✗ I wish I would… — I wish I could… or I wish I had….
Compare:
| I wish he didn't smoke. | It's a pity he smokes. — simply regret about a fact |
| I wish he would stop smoking. | I want him to stop! — I want a change, I'm unhappy |
wish or hope. hope is about something that may well happen, and after it comes an ordinary tense: I hope you get the job. I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow. wish is about what is not there: I wish I had a job. There is also a third meaning — a wish with a noun, without the past tense: I wish you luck, We wish you a happy New Year.
About the past ("it's a pity I didn't… back then") wish is built differently; that form comes later. Here — only about the present.
More examples:
| I wish I knew the answer. | It's a pity I don't know the answer. |
| I wish you were here. | It's a pity you aren't here. |
| I wish my neighbours would turn the music down. | I really want the neighbours to make the music quieter. |
| If only I didn't live so far from work! | I live far from work, and I badly want it to be different! |
Don't say this. ✗ I wish I didn't must work on Saturdays → ✓ I wish I didn't have to work on Saturdays. must has no past form, so after wish you need have to.
Check yourself. What does I wish I lived in the country mean: does the person live in the country or not? How do you say that it's a pity you don't speak German? wish or hope: you want tomorrow to be sunny, and it may well be?
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Common learner errors
written for your languageThe negative from your own language
I wish I didn't have a car is correct English, but it means the opposite: "it's a pity I have a car". To say that you have no car and are sorry about it, you need ✓ I wish I had a car. French dommage que je n'aie pas… and German schade, dass ich kein… have a negative, and learners carry it over. But the English sentence names what you want.
The present after wish
✗ I wish I have more time → ✓ I wish I had more time; ✗ I wish I can drive → ✓ I wish I could drive. Spanish ojalá tenga and French j'aimerais que tu sois là have a present form and point to the present. But after wish the tense moves into the past, as after if in B1 #8.
wish instead of hope
✗ I wish you will pass the exam
✓ I hope you pass the exam / I hope you'll pass the exam
German ich wünsche dir, dass…, French je souhaite que… and Spanish te deseo que… all point to wish. But about a real future English says hope, and wish never goes with will.
would about yourself
✗ I wish I would speak Italian
✓ I wish I spoke Italian / I wish I could speak Italian
German ich würde gern… and French j'aimerais… suggest would, as in I'd like. But I wish … would is about other people's behaviour or the weather, not about yourself.
Pronunciation
4 minRegret is carried by the fall-rise, the same as in a polite complaint (A2 #25):
I wish I had more time ↘↗
The voice falls on the stressed time and rises a little at the end: "how nice it would be…". A plain fall sounds like a dry statement of fact.
wish — /wɪʃ/: it begins with /w/, made with rounded lips, not /v/; the vowel is a short /ɪ/, not a long /iː/. In I wish I the /ʃ/ joins the next I: /aɪ ˈwɪʃ aɪ/ sounds without a pause.
If only — the stress is on only: /ɪf ˈəʊnli/. The first sound in only is the double /əʊ/, as in go, not a pure /o/.
Text
5 minI love my flat, but some days I wish I lived somewhere else. It's right in the centre of town, so everything is close. The problem is that it's tiny. I wish I had a proper kitchen — at the moment I cook on a small hob next to the sofa. And I wish the walls weren't so thin.
My neighbour upstairs is a nice young man, but he plays the drums. Every evening at ten, the concert starts. I wish he would practise in the afternoons instead. I've asked him twice, and he always says sorry, but nothing changes.
I also wish I could drive. If I had a car, I'd visit my parents more often. They live in a village in Yorkshire, and the trains there are slow and expensive. If only the buses were better!
Still, I'm not going to move. I like the cafés, the park and the noise of the street. I just hope my neighbour finds a new hobby soon. Maybe I'll buy him a guitar — a quiet one.
Exercises
30 min1. Gap fill.
- I don't have enough time. I wish I (have) more time
- I can't speak Italian. I wish I (speak) Italian
- I can't drive. I wish I (can) drive
- It's raining again. I wish it (not / rain)
- My flat is very small. I wish it (be) bigger
- I have to get up at six. I wish I (not / have to) get up so early
- My brother always borrows my things. I wish he (stop) doing that
- I don't know her address. If only I (know) it!
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2. Rewrite with I wish
- I don't have a garden.
- I live so far from work.
- I can't play the guitar.
- I'm not good at maths.
- I have to wear a suit at work.
- My sister doesn't live near me.
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3. Rewrite the complaint with I wish … would.
- My neighbour plays loud music at night. (stop)
- You never listen to me. (listen)
- It's been raining for three days. (stop)
- My colleague always leaves dirty cups on my desk. (not / leave)
- The bus is late again. (come)
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4. Multiple choice.
- I you have a good trip
- I I knew the answer
- We it doesn't rain on Saturday
- I my parents lived closer
- I you feel better soon
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5. Error correction.
- I wish I have more free time.
- I wish I would speak Italian.
- I wish I can come to your party.
- I wish you will pass the exam.
- If only I am ten years younger!
- I wish I didn't must get up at six.
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6. Answer in full sentences
— about yourself. The answers below are an example. 1) What do you wish you could do? 2) What do you wish was different about your town? 3) Is there anything you wish other people would stop doing?
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7. Say it in English.
Each line describes a situation in simple words. Say it in one sentence, with the forms of this lesson. 1) You don't have a car, and you are sorry about it. 2) You can't swim, and you are sorry about it. 3) He is late again and again. You are annoyed and want him to change. 4) You live far from work and badly want it to be different. Make it a strong exclamation, not a sentence with wish. 5) Your friend is ill. Tell them you want them to be well again soon — and that may well happen.
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Summary
Covered
- I wish and If only + the past about the present
- could and didn't have to after wish
- the change of sign when you translate
- I wish … would about someone else's behaviour
- wish against hope
Next — lesson 10: guesses.
End of the core
The lesson counts as done once the exercises are done. Everything after this is optional.
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Vocabulary for your deck
14 words- wish /wɪʃ/ to want something that is not true now; to be sorry that something is not so
- if only /ɪf ˈəʊnli/ a strong way to say "I really want this to be different"
- tiny /ˈtaɪni/ very small
- proper /ˈprɒpə/ real, as it should be
- hob /hɒb/ the flat top of a cooker where you put pans
- thin /θɪn/ not thick
- upstairs /ˌʌpˈsteəz/ on a higher floor of a building
- drums /drʌmz/ a musical instrument that you hit with sticks
- hobby /ˈhɒbi/ something you like doing in your free time
- quiet /ˈkwaɪət/ with little noise
- noise /nɔɪz/ a loud or unpleasant sound
- interrupt /ˌɪntəˈrʌpt/ to start speaking while someone else is still speaking
- suit /suːt/ a jacket and trousers or a skirt made of the same cloth
- get better /ˌɡet ˈbetə/ to become well again after an illness
Writing
Five or six sentences: three things in your life now that you are sorry about, and one about someone else's behaviour. At least one If only….
Example
I wish I had more free time. I work long hours, and I wish I didn't have to travel so much. I also wish I could play an instrument — my brother plays the piano beautifully. If only my flat were bigger! Then I'd buy a piano too. My colleague always talks loudly on the phone. I wish he would take his calls in the meeting room.
Checklist
Practise this lesson in the other sections
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