WISHES AND REGRETS

PAST SIMPLE – UNREAL, HYPOTHETICAL OR IMAGINARY SITUATIONS IN THE PRESENT; WISHES OR

REGRETS ABOUT THE PRESENT

1.I wish I lived in a big house with a garden. (= but I don’t)

2.If only I had more free time! (=but I don’t)

3.He speaks French as if he were from France. (= but he isn’t)

4.It’s (about / high) time you retired.

5.I’d rather / sooner you went home now. (different subjects – past simple)
I’d rather / sooner go home now. (one subject – present bare infinitive)

6.If I knew his whereabouts, I would tell you. (=but I don’t)

Suppose / Supposing you won the lottery, how would you spend the money?

PAST PERFECT – UNREAL, IMAGINARY SITUATIONS IN THE PAST; WISHES OR REGRETS ABOUT THE
PAST

1.I wish I had taken your advice. (=but I didn’t)

2.If only I had made a wiser choice! (=but I didn’t)

3.He behaves as if he had been promoted. (=but he wasn’t promoted)

4.I’d rather / sooner you had consulted me before making the decision. (different subjects – past
perfect)
I’d rather / sooner have stayed at home yesterday but he insisted we go out. (one subject – perfect
infinitive)

6.If I had studied harder, I would have passed the exam. (=but I didn’t)

WISH + WOULD – COMPLAINTS, EXPRESSING DISSATISFACTION, WISH FOR A FUTURE CHANGE

I wish you would drive more carefully.

I wish you would be more patient with Jim.
PRACTICE

I Put the verbs in brackets into the correct form

A miner’s life is a hard one. I wish it _________________(not be) so dirty and unhealthy. I also wish we
___________________(work) shorter hours and ____________________(have) better working
conditions. If only I _________________(leave) school so early. I wish I ____________________(do)
something else, but the only thing I know is mining. I’d prefer ________________(have) a job in the
open air. There’s nothing I’s rather ________________(do) than work on a farm, for example – all that
fresh air and open space! I wish the owners _________________(make) my job a little safer. If only
someone ________________(invent) a machine to go underground, then I wouldn’t have to do it. And I
wish people ________________(stop) complaining about how much money we earn because we
deserve every penny we get. I wish I __________________(be) a young boy again and ______________
(have) the chance to choose something else. My father was a miner, but I wish I _________________
(not decide) to follow in his footsteps. My son had better ________________(study) hard if he doesn’t
want to follow in mine!

II Put the verbs in brackets into the correct form

1.If only I ___________________(not confide) in her! Now everybody knows my problems.

2.Amy says she doesn’t need our help. She’d rather _________________(organize) everything herself.
Amy didn’t like the way we organized the event. She says she’d rather _______________(organize)
everything herself.

3.I’d rather you _________________(get) a full-time job than a part-time job.

4.Supposing he ________________(invite) you to the party, _______________(you / accept)?

5.I wish I __________________(ask) my parents for advice before I made up my mind.

6.Liz studied Art at university but she says she’d rather ________________(study) History.

7.I wish Alan ____________________(not move) away. I miss him so much.

8.It seemed as if she __________________(forget) about the meeting.