Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
WISHES AND REGRETS - Coggle Diagram
WISHES AND REGRETS
When we make a wish, we imagine an unreal situation in the past, present or future.
Wishes about the future
We use would to make wishes about the future. Don't use would to make a wish about yourself - use could instead.
-
I wish I could get a better job but I haven 't got enough
experience. (= if I had more experience, I would be able to get a better job.)
Wishes about the present
We can use the past simple to make wishes about the present. We can also make wishes about the present with could + infinitive.
-
I wish I could speak French — it's such a beautiful language. (= I wish I was able to speak French, but I'm not.)
-
Tips
To talk about something that we see as realistic, possible or likely in the future use hope, not wish
-
When making wishes about l / he / she / it, we can use were instead of was. Were is preferred in formal English, but in normal spoken English, both versions are common
-
I wish... / if only...
lf only... means the same as I wish ..., and we use it in the same way.
-