CARROTTA
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🌠 Compendium
Grammar
EN
English — wish / if only
Use wish and if only to talk about regrets — things you would like to be different in the present or the past.
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How it works
✓ Rule
wish + past simple expresses a regret about the present: I wish I had a car. wish + past perfect expresses a regret about the past: I wish I had studied harder. wish + would expresses annoyance or a desire for change: I wish it would stop raining.
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Examples
| Meaning | Example |
|---|---|
| present regret | I wish I knew the answer. |
| past regret | I wish I had come earlier. |
| annoyance | I wish you would listen. |
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Good to know
⚠ Note
if only is a stronger, more emphatic version of wish. After wish and if only, use were for all persons: I wish I were taller.