Unit 41. Wish.
Unit 41; Part A
You can say 'I wish you luck / every success / a happy birthday' etc. :• I wish you every success in the future.
• I saw Tim before the exam and he wished me luck.
We say 'wish somebody something' (luck / a happy birthday etc.). But you cannot 'wish that something happens'. We use hope in this situation. For example:
• I hope you get this letter before you go away. (not I wish you get)
Compare I wish and I hope:
• I wish you a pleasant stay here.
• I hope you have a pleasant stay here. (not I wish you have)
Unit 41; Part B
We also use wish to say that we regret something, that something is not as we would like it. When we use wish in this way, we use the past (knew / lived etc.), but the meaning is present:• I wish I knew what to do about the problem. (I don't know and I regret this)
• I wish you didn't have to go so soon. (you have to go)
• Do you wish you lived near the sea? (you don't live near the sea)
• Jack's going on a trip to Mexico soon. I wish I was going too. (I'm not going)
To say that we regret something in the past, we use wish + had ... (had known / had said) etc. :
• I wish I'd known about the party. I would have gone if I'd known. (I didn't know)
• It was a stupid thing to say. I wish I hadn't said it. (I said it)
For more examples, see Unit 39 and Unit 40.
Unit 41; Part C
I wish I could (do something) = I regret that I cannot do it:• I'm sorry I have to go. I wish I could stay longer. (but I can't)
• I've met that man before. I wish I could remember his name. (but I can't)
I wish I could have (done something) = I regret that I could not do it:
• I hear the party was great. I wish I could have gone. (but I couldn't go)
Unit 41; Part D
You can say 'I wish (somebody) would (do something)'. For example:It's been raining all day. Jill doesn't like it.
She says: I wish it would stop raining.
Jill would like the rain to stop, but this will probably not happen.
We use I wish ... would when we would like something to happen or change.
Usually, the speaker doesn't expect this to happen.
We often use I wish ... would to complain about a situation:
• The phone has been ringing for five minutes. I wish somebody would answer it.
• I wish you would do something instead of just sitting and doing nothing.
You can use I wish ... wouldn't ... to complain about things that people do repeatedly:
• I wish you wouldn't keep interrupting me.
We use I wish ... would ... for actions and changes, not situations. Compare:
• I wish Sarah would come. (= I want her to come)
but I wish Sarah was (or were) here now. (not I wish Sarah would be)
• I wish somebody would buy me a car.
but I wish I had a car. (not I wish I would have)
Exercises
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