Look at this sample situation:

Sofia talking about her English skills

I wish my English was better. If only I didn’t make so many mistakes when I speak. I’d love to be able to understand films without subtitles so it’s time I practised more!

You can see from these examples that we often use the past simple (was, didn’t make, practised) to talk about situations we would like to be different now. This is called the unreal past. We also use expressions like If only, It’s time, and I’d rather to show similar feelings.

Meaning & structure

We use wish and related expressions to talk about:

Present situations we are not happy about 

is the same as

Form: wish + subject + (unreal) past simple

Affirmative:

= I don’t live near the beach.

Negative:

= I have to work today.

If only can be used instead of I wish to add emphasis and for stronger, more emotional feelings.

Affirmative:

Negative:

Past situations we regret

= I didn’t study hard enough.

Form: wish/if only + subject + past perfect

Affirmative:

Negative:

Present or future situations we want to change

We often use this structure to express complaints or annoyance or when we want someone else (or something) to behave differently in the future. It's usually something we cannot control.

= please stop interrupting me. 

Form: wish/if only + subject + would + base verb

Affirmative:

Negative:

Be careful! We don't use this to talk about ourselves:

sounds strange. We can control how much we study. It’d be much more natural to say

Also, this form doesn’t work with state verbs such as know, be, like, believe, understand, etc. because would here is about change or willingness and states don’t change in that way.

is wrong and instead should be

Other related forms:

It's (high/about) time + (unreal) past simple

We use this for something that should happen now or soon or that should have happened already.

= we should leave now or we’ll be late.

Compare this with It's time to go to the airport.

= this means that we should go now; it's not late.

Using high/about adds more emphasis:

I'd rather + subject + (unreal) past simple

This shows a preference about someone else’s actions.

= I’d prefer it if you didn’t smoke here.

Compare this with: I'd rather stay in tonight.

= I prefer to stay in tonight. Notice that there isn't another subject after would rather; there is just a bare infinitive (infinitive without to). This structure means I prefer.

In the FCE Exam

Reading and Use of English

You may find these forms in part 4, key word transformations.

I can’t speak Japanese.

WISH

I ___________________________ Japanese.

Answer: I wish I spoke Japanese/I wish I could speak Japanese.

Why don’t you listen to me?

WISH

I ___________________________ to me.

Answer: I wish you would listen to me.

Part 2 might require words related to these structures.

Here are some examples:

If __________ travelling was cheaper!

Answer: only

I wish people __________ not leave everything till the last minute!

Answer: would

It's __________ time we started to care more about the environment.

Answer: high/about

Writing

In an essay, you might use wishes to make your language more varied:

Or in an informal email you could say:

Speaking

In part 1 you might be asked:

What would you like to change about your life?

or the classic question:

How do you like to spend your free time?

Now try these exercises!