Free Online English Lessons Wishes & Regrets
Grammar, Level B1+
In this exercise, you will look at wishes and regrets. We wish things were different and we regret things we did in the past. So I can say "I wish I had written a letter to you last week". What sort of things do you wish and what do you regret?
Look at this table. It will help to explain the tenses we use in this exercise.
| Sentence | Time | Tense |
| I wish I spoke Arabic (I am sorry that I don't speak Arabic) | Now | I wish (present) I spoke (past) |
| I wish I were/was somewhere warm and sunny (I am sorry that I am not somewhere warm and sunny) | Now | I wish (present) I was/were (past) |
| I wish/If only he didn't smoke (I am sorry that he smokes) | Now | I wish (present) he didn't smoke (past) |
| I wish he had a car (I am sorry he hasn't got a car) | Now | I wish (present) he had (past) |
| I wish/If only he would stop chewing gum (we use would to talk about things we would like people to (not)do) (I want him to stop chewing gum) | Now | I wish (present) he would (past) |
| I wish this car would start (I want this car to start) | Now | I wish (present) would start (past) |
| I wish I hadn't said that (I am sorry that I said that) | Past | I wish (present) I hadn't said (past perfect) |
| I wish I had gone to bed earlier last night (I am sorry I went to bed late last night) | Past | I wish (present) I hadn't gone (past perfect) |
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