Wish – Expressing Wishes and Regrets
📌 Lesson Contents
🎯 Lesson goal
In this lesson you will learn to use wish 📖 to talk about impossible wishes in the present, or about situations you would like to be different from reality. You will also learn to express regrets about past events 🧠 and you can practise straight away with the test at the bottom of the page! 🚀
🌟 What does “wish” mean?
Wish shows an unreal wish or an imaginary situation: it talks about something that is not true or did not happen, but that you would like to be different.
📌 Example: I wish I had a car. ➔ I would like to have a car (but in reality I don’t have one).
🔍 How do we form it?
There are two main structures, depending on whether the wish is about the present or the past:
| Type of wish | Formula | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Present / Unreal situation | wish + Past Simple | I wish I were taller. 📏 |
| Past / Regret about something that did not happen | wish + Past Perfect | I wish I had studied more. 📚 |
💡 Remember: even when you talk about the present, you use the Past Simple to show distance from reality. For regrets about the past, use the Past Perfect (had + past participle).
🔍 Practical examples
1. Wishes about the present (use Past Simple)
- I wish I were taller. 📏
- She wishes she lived in Paris. 🗼
- They wish they had a bigger house. 🏡
2. Wishes and regrets about the past (use Past Perfect)
- I wish I had gone to the concert. 🎸
- They wish they had studied harder. 📚
- We wish we had left earlier. 🚗
🧩 Summary table – Wish
| When to use it | Formula | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Wish about the present | wish + Past Simple | I wish I spoke Spanish. 🇪🇸 |
| Regret about the past | wish + Past Perfect | I wish I had visited Japan. 🇯🇵 |
❓ Frequent questions
- With “I” should I use “was” or “were”?
➔ We prefer were with all subjects (e.g. I wish I were rich). In formal and written English, were is the correct choice! - Does the verb tense always go one step back from the time you are talking about?
➔ Yes! There is always a “step back” (backshift): for the present you use the Past Simple, for the past you use the Past Perfect. - Do we also use “wish” for a likely hope about the future?
➔ ❌ No! For real hopes about the future we use hope (e.g. I hope you pass the test).
🚫 Common mistakes to avoid
| Mistake ❌ | Correct ✅ |
|---|---|
| I wish I am taller. | I wish I were taller. (Use the Past Simple!) |
| She wishes she goes to Paris. | She wishes she went to Paris. (Past Simple for the present!) |
| They wish they study harder. | They wish they had studied harder. (Past Perfect for the past!) |
👉 Remember: wish + Past Simple for the present | wish + Past Perfect for the past!
📌 Final summary
- wish + Past Simple ➔ unreal wishes about the present.
- wish + Past Perfect ➔ regrets about things that did not happen in the past.
- Use were instead of was in formally correct sentences!
Practise by talking about things you wish were different today or in your past! ✨
Gap Fill & Translation Exercises
Test yourself! In the first 15 sentences, complete with the correct form of the verb after ‘wish’ (Past Simple or Past Perfect). In the last 5, put the sentences into English.