Transcript Wishes, regrets and preferences

Wishes, regrets and preferences
Wish is used to talk about situations
which we’d like to change but can’t
because they are beyond our control.
e.g. I wish I could swim.
I wish they were here.
Use the past tense when referring to a
present state/situation.
wish
 If the situation happened in the past,
then we use the past perfect
(had+past participle)
e.g. I wish I hadn’t bought that car.
It’s costing a fortune in
maintenance bills.
They wish they had fixed the roof
last summer. It’s leaking again!
Wish + would
 Use wish + would to complain a present
situation.
E.g. I wish you wouldn’t smoke in the
house.
I wish he would stop teasing his
sister.
N.B. Do not say ‘I wish I would’
Wish + would - impatience
 Use ‘I wish sth. would happen when we
want sth. To happen badly.
E.g. I wish it’d stop raining.
I wish mom would come home soon.
Careful: I wish it were Friday
Not
I wish it would be Friday.
Wish?/if only?
 if only can replace wish with a
slightly stronger sense of stress.
e.g.
I wish I hadn’t given the secret
away/If only I hadn’t given the
secret away.
I’d rather
Use would rather to express a preference:
1. about our own actions:
present state/situation: I’d rather live
in Iceland than anywhere else in the
world.
past state/situation: I’d rather have
studied medicine than English lit.
I’d rather
2. about someone else’s actions
present situation use a past tense:
I’d rather you did the washing up
now.
They’d rather we came this afternoon.
For a past situation use would
rahter+past participle:
I’d rather you hadn’t told her the
joke.
It’s time/It’s about time/It’s high time
Use it’s time and it’s high time to
indicate that something should
happen soon
(use the past tense)
e.g. It’s time/high time Pálmi had
a hair cut.
It’s about time Jóhanna found a
job and settled down.
It’s time to do ...
Use It’s time to do sth. To show that the
moment for sth. To happen has come.
e.g. It’s eleven o’clock already. It’s
time to go to bed.
I haven’t seen my relatives for years.
It’s time to pay them a visit.
reference
Hains, S & Steward, B. (2004). First
Certificate Masterclass. Oxford
University Press. Oxford.