I wish If only Unreal uses of past
- Slides: 8
I wish… If only… Unreal uses of past tenses
WISH + PAST SIMPLE: wishes about the present ✖To talk about things we would like to be different in the present/future (but which are impossible or unlikely). ○I can’t buy a new house. I wish I were rich. (But I’m not) ✖With COULD, to talk about possibilities or abilities you want to change. ○I wish I could speak Russian, but I only speak Spanish. ✖Wish+ person/thing + would to talk about things you want to change because they annoy you. (a wish about the future) ○I wish you would listen to me!
WISH + PAST PERFCT: regrets ✖To talk about things which happened/didn’t happen in the past and which we now regret. ○I wish I hadn’t spoken to Jane like that – you know how sensitive she is. ○ I wish I could have done more to help you.
IF ONLY… ✖Instead of wish with the past simple and past perfect. ✖It can be used by itself (If only I knew!) or with another clause. ✖It can show more emotion than I wish. ○If only I knew the answer! ○If only you hadn’t forgotten the map, we’d be there by now.
REPLIES ✖We can either talk about a real situation or a hypothetical one, and that afects your choice of tenses. A: I wish you had said something. B: I would have (said it) /hypothetical situation/ but I thought everything was going fine. 1: If only we had the time…! 2: Yeah, but we don’t /real situation/, so be practical and move on. Z: I wish you would tell me when there’s a problem! Y: I would /hypothetical situation/ but everytime I have tried to do so you wouldn’t listen to me. /real situation/
Reminder of other structures that require the use of past tenses
WOULD RATHER and WOULD PREFER ✖would rather + subject + past tense ○To express a preference. I would rather you smoked outside. He would rather you didn’t waste your money. They would rather she hadn’t wasted so much money. ✖would rather + infinitive ○To express a preference BUT the subject is the same. (DON’T USE to) I would rather have a salad. I would rather not talk about the exam. ✖would prefer + infinitive She would prefer you not to waste your money. She would prefer you not to have invested …
IT’S TIME ✖It’s time + subject + past simple ○To talk about something that should already have happened or to show that something should happen soon. Don’t you think it’s time you found a job? ○We can use it’s time + infinitive when it is the right time to do something. It’s time to go. It’s late. ○We sometimes use high before time for emphasis. It’s high time the Government did something about unemployment.
