Expressing wishes and regrets

Read the following explanation from the BBC website:

wishing for the impossible: wish that + past tenses

To express wishes for unlikely or impossible situations and to express regrets, we use wish that + constructions with  could, was, were or past tenses.  Note that although we are using past tense forms, we are talking about present and future situations. Compare the following:

 

I'm hopeless at foreign languages, but I wish I spoke Spanish and French.
I'm not hard-working at all - I'm really lazy - but I wish (that) I weren't.

It's only Tuesday today, but I wish it was Saturday.

 

Note that was and were are fully interchangeable with first, second and third person pronouns, singular and plural. Arguably, were sounds more formal than was. Note also that that is optional in all these that-clauses.

 

My wife has to work such long hours, but I wish she didn't (have to).
I have to prepare all the meals. I wish (that) I didn't.
And now the dishwasher doesn't work. I wish it did.

 

Note also that we use wish that + could when we are talking about people's ability to do things and wish that + would when we are talking about things that we would like people to do or not to do.

I can't eat anything with nuts in - I'm allergic to them - but I wish I could.
I know your parents won't let you come to the nightclub, but I wish you could.

I know you don't really want to come to the nightclub, but I wish you would.
He keeps sending me text messages, but I wish he wouldn't.

Past regrets: wish + past perfect

To talk about wishes and regrets about past situations, we use wish with the past perfect: 

I didn't ever receive the parcel from my granny, but I wish I had (received it).

The parcel never arrived. I wish (that) it hadn't got lost in the post.

Note that wish with past tenses and with past perfect is used in a similar way to conditional sentences and that if only can sometimes be used as an alternative to wish:

 

I wish I had worked harder at university. If only I had worked harder at university, I would've got a better job.
I wish I had done more travelling in my youth. If I had travelled more widely, I am sure I would be more open-minded now.
I wish you could come with me to Cancun this summer. If you could only come with me to Cancun, that would make it a perfect summer.

Homework

 

Do the practice exercises in the document below and send your answers by e-mail (mmasuyama.nes@gmail.com)

Wish