I wish + past simple_perfect for wishes andregrets

Wishes and regrets

1. I wish + past simple I wish + past perfect Wishes and Regrets

2. The expression I wish/if only… is used in English to express wishes about things that we wan t to happen /change in the present / future or and regrets about things which happened in the past .

3. If we talk about a wish about a present or future event, then we will use the structure of the second conditional   (if + past simple , would + infinitive). If the event we regret happened (or failed to happen) in the past and is, therefore, impossible to change, then we use the third conditional structure (if + past perfect , would + have + past participle) .

4. I wish I had enough money to travel to New York.   (That is, I don't have enough money now, and I am sorry for it because I can't go) I wish I had had enough money to travel to New York. (That is, I didn't have enough money to travel in the past, so I couldn't go and now I regret it)

5. I wish I had enough money to travel to New York.   I wish I had had enough money to travel to New York. Past simple= present/future reference Past Perfect= past reference

6. You can also use “if only” instead of “I wish” with no change in meaning If only I had enough money to travel to New York (I would travel there).   If only I had had enough money to travel to New York (I would have travelled there).

7. I wish you wouldn’t borrow my clothes without asking. I wish it would rain . The garden really needs some water. I wish you ’d give up smoking. It’s really bad for you . We use  wish + would  to talk about something in the present/future that we would like to change – usually something that we find annoying .

8. We can only use  wish + would  to talk about things we can’t change personally, so we don’t use it in the first person S o  I wish I wouldn’t eat so much chocolate   is not possible, although we can say   I wish I didn’t eat so much chocolate .