Lesson 184--Wishes that are regrets

as a child, this is how we made wishes....and weeds

 

 

The last way I want to look at wish this week is how we use wish in the past.  When we use wish in the past, we are regretting something we did, or something we didn't do.

The form is

wish + subject + had/hadn't + past participle

examples                 

I wish I had bought stock in Apple when I was young.

Samantha wishes she hadn't spent so much money on shoes.

My parents wish I had become a doctor or lawyer.

Most of my students wish they had studied English harder in elementary and high school.

Lesson 183--Wish for the Impossible

 

Wish for Impossible Things (present and future)

 

When something is impossible, but we want it be different we can use the verb wish to express this.  Even though we use the past tense, we are referring to the present or future, not the past.  We use the following pattern

Wish + past tense*

*strict grammar says you should use were instead of was....but more relaxed users sometimes use was.

examples

I wish I were taller.*

I wish I had a PS4.

Cynthia wishes she had a new car.

Sam wishes he didn't have to work today.

Lesson 182--Using Wish to complain

 

When we can't change a situation and want to complain we can use the following pattern

wish + would + base form

examples

I wish my neighbour wouldn't make so much noise.

I wish that loud person would shut up.

Maria wishes it would stop snowing.

Henry wishes his YouTube video would load faster.