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'wish' and 'if only'
Look at these examples to see how wish and if only are used.
That guy is so annoying! I wish he'd stop talking.
I wish I lived closer to my family.
If only I hadn't lost her phone number. She must think I'm so rude for not calling her.
I wish they wouldn't park their car in front of my house.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
- Grammar test 1
Read the explanation to learn more.
Grammar explanation
We use wish and if only to talk about things that we would like to be different in either the present or the past. If only is usually a bit stronger than wish.
In the present
We can use wish/if only + a past form to talk about a present situation we would like to be different.
I wish you didn't live so far away.
If only we knew what to do.
He wishes he could afford a holiday.
In the past
We can use wish/if only + a past perfect form to talk about something we would like to change about the past.
They wish they hadn't eaten so much chocolate. They're feeling very sick now.
If only I'd studied harder when I was at school.
Expressing annoyance
We can use wish + would(n't) to show that we are annoyed with what someone or something does or doesn't do. We often feel that they are unlikely or unwilling to change.
I wish you wouldn't borrow my clothes without asking.
I wish it would rain. The garden really needs some water.
She wishes he'd work less. They never spend any time together.
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
- Grammar test 2
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Hello Birgit17
You could also say 'If only there were a restaurant open now' -- that is also correct and means the same thing. You can use 'was' or 'were' for all subjects in statements about wishes or imaginary situations (e.g. 'If I were you, I wouldn't do that').
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello khalid Ibrahim
It's sometimes a little tricky to see, but in our exercises, the speaker says something to express their annoyance. Look, for example, at the first three sentences of Task 2:
In 1, since they say 'before they started the project', it's clearly a past time. It's possible the speaker is annoyed, but since they're talking about a past event, 'would ask' is not grammatically correct. The only possibility is 'had asked'.
In 2, there is no expression of annoyance, so 'would travel' doesn't make any sense; 'could travel' is the answer.
In 3, 'I'm always falling over them' expresses annoyance with something that happens repeatedly, therefore 'wouldn't leave' is the correct answer.
I hope this helps. If you have any further questions, we're happy to help, but please tell us which specific question you are confused about and tell us what you think the correct answer is.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Justme,
I'm afraid we don't provide help of this sort. We're a small team here and we try to provide as much help as we can for users with questions about the English language, but we can't help with homework or tests from elsewhere.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi ilnicholas87,
That's a very big topic.
One thing that's important to remember is that time (when an action happens) and tense (forms of the verb) are not the same thing. We can use past tense, for example, to talk about the present or even the future.
It's also important to remember that time is not the only important element of a verb's meaning. Aspect, which deals with things like whether an action is permanent or temporary, finished or unfinished, repeated or singular and so on, is also very important.
The grammar pages on LearnEnglish have a section on verbs. You can find it here:
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar-reference/verbs
On the right you'll see links to different aspects of the verb system. The pages on talking about the past, present and future would be a good place to start, I think.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team