What is a wish?
A wish is a desire or strong
feeling that we want to have something or do something.
What is regret?
Regret is a feeling of sadness or
disappointment, which is caused by something that has happened or something
that we have done or not done.
Grammar
Wish
A. Study the given examples.
I wish I had a car.
I wish I could speak English fluently.
I wish he would lend me some
money.
I wish I lived closer to my
family.
I wish they wouldn't park
their car in front of my house.
He wishes he could afford a
holiday.
They wish they hadn't eaten so
much chocolate.
‘Wish/if only’ is used in a sentence to express desires.
See the following sentence structure
and find use of ‘wish’ with different sentence
structure and its meaning/expression.
1. wish + past simple is
used to express that we want a situation in the present (or future) to be
different.
|
Sentence |
Meaning/Expression |
|
I wish I spoke Nepali. |
(I don’t speak Nepali) |
|
I wish I had a car. |
(I don’t have a car) |
|
I wish I were on
a holiday. |
(I’m in the office working hard) |
|
I wish I were with
my parents. |
(I’m staying in a hostel) |
2. wish + past continuous is
used to express that we want to be doing a different action in the
present (or future).
|
Sentence |
Meaning/Expression |
|
I wish I were watching
my favorite movie. |
(I’m working in the office) |
|
I wish it weren’t
raining. |
(It is raining) |
|
I wish you weren’t
leaving Nepal tomorrow. |
(You are leaving Nepal tomorrow) |
3. wish + past perfect is
used to express a regret, or that we want a situation in the past to be
different.
|
Sentence |
Meaning/Expression |
|
I wish I hadn’t
eaten too much. |
(I ate more than enough) |
|
I wish my brother had
come on holiday with us. |
(He didn’t come on holiday) |
|
I wish I had studied
seriously at school. |
(I was careless at school) |
Remember:
In Standard English usage we use “I wish I were…” and “I wish it were…”.
However, “I wish I was…” and “I wish it was” are in common usage. So, the above
expression can be made either using was
or were.
B. Express your wishes in the
following situations in three different ways.
Use I wish/If only…….
a. You don’t have a mobile phone (You
need one).
→ I wish I had a mobile phone.
→ I wish somebody would gift
me a mobile phone.
→ I wish I could buy a mobile
phone
b. You don’t know the answer of a
question from the lesson.
→ I wish I knew the answer.
→ I wish my friend would tell
me the answer.
→ I wish I had learned the
lesson seriously.
c. You can’t play the guitar.
→ I wish I could play the guitar.
→ I wish my brother would teach
me to play the guitar.
→ I wish we had music teacher
at school.
d. It’s cold.
→ I wish it were a sunny day.
→ I wish my room had heating
system.
→ I wish somebody would make
fire.
e. You are feeling sick.
→ I wish I were all fit.
→ I wish a doctor would visit me.
→ I wish I could go to a
hospital.
f. You live in a crowded city.
→ I wish I were at village.
→ I wish my friend would take
me to a peaceful place.
→ I wish I could go to my village.
g. You feel lonely.
→ I wish I were with my
family.
→ I wish someone would give me
a company.
→ I wish had many friends.
C. Rewrite the following sentences
making correction if necessary.
a. I wish my father bought me a bike.
→ (Correct)
b. I wish I would write poems.
→ I wish I could write poems.
c. I wish I could remember her name.
→ (Correct)
d. I wish I had a god job.
→ (Correct)
e. I wish I would be rich.
→ I wish I were rich.