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Wishes and Regrets

This document discusses the use of the past simple, past perfect, and wish + would tenses to express unreal, hypothetical or imaginary situations in the past or present involving wishes or regrets. It provides examples of how to use each tense to talk about wishes or regrets about the past, present or future. It then provides a practice exercise for learners to practice using these tenses in similar contexts.

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Nicole D, Hale
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279 views2 pages

Wishes and Regrets

This document discusses the use of the past simple, past perfect, and wish + would tenses to express unreal, hypothetical or imaginary situations in the past or present involving wishes or regrets. It provides examples of how to use each tense to talk about wishes or regrets about the past, present or future. It then provides a practice exercise for learners to practice using these tenses in similar contexts.

Uploaded by

Nicole D, Hale
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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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.

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