Wishes & Regrets

Wishes/Regrets
What if you found a magic
lamp and a genie came out
to grant you 3 wishes.

Rule: You can’t wish for

for more wishes.

What would you wish for?

Would you rather have a lifetime full of
wealth & money… or a lifetime of great
health?
Did you do anything recently that you wish you
hadn’t done?

(I wish I hadn’t stayed awake so late last night… now,

I’m sleepy!)
Present/Future wish
1. We use wish + past simple to express that
we want a situation in the present (or future)
to be different.
– I wish I spoke English better. (I don't speak English well.)
– I wish I had a more money. (I don't have much money.)
– I wish I was on a beach. (I'm stuck at school.)

– Future: I wish it was Friday.

– (It's only Tuesday.)
Past wish
3. We use wish + past perfect to express a
regret, or that we want a situation in the past to
be different.
– I wish I hadn't eaten so much. (I ate a lot.)
– I wish they had stayed longer. (They didn't stay long
enough.)
– I wish I had studied harder at school. (I was lazy at school.)
Present Continuous wish
2. We use wish + past continuous to express
that we want to be doing a different action in
the present (or future).

– I wish I was lying on a beach now. (I'm sitting on my

sofa.)
– I wish it wasn't raining. (It is raining.)
– I wish you weren't leaving tomorrow. (You are leaving
tomorrow.)
 Wish = If only

• I wish I hadn’t said that.

• If only I hadn’t said that.