I WISH/ IF ONLY

I WISH + PAST SIMPLE

To talk about things we would like to
be different in the present or future,
but which are unlikely or impossible.
I wish I were taller
If only you could swim
I WISH + WOULD +INFINITIVE
Complaints about things we want to
happen or stop happening because
they’re annoying.

I wish you wouldn’t speak so loudly

I wish she would stop biting her nails
*Don’t use it for a wish about yourself:
*I wish I would…
 I WISH+ PAST PERFECT
Regrets about things that happened or didn’t
happen in the past, and therefore they can´t be
changed.

I wish I hadn´t phoned her (because we had an

argument and I would have liked to avoid it).
If only she had studied harder (then she could
have gone to university but she didn´t).