The basics
Advanced
Subjects
Topics
|
|
Wish & IF
1- Expressing wishes about the present and future:
| The true situation: | Expressing a wish about that situation: |
| (Present) | (Simple past) |
| She doesn’t see him. | She wishes (that) she saw him. |
| They are not present. | They wish (that) they were present. |
| He can understand. | He wishes he couldn’t understand. |
| I don’t have time. | I wish I had time. |
| I have been worried. | I wish I hadn’t been worried. |
| He has to wait. | He wishes he didn’t have to wait. |
| She is absent. | She wishes she weren’t absent. |
We make wishes when we want the reality to be different, to be exactly
the opposite (or contrary) of the situation.
A noun clause followed WISH. The verbs used in the noun
clause are special.
When we express a wish in the present, we use the past
verb form (simple past).
Note:
----
WERE is used for all subject (I, you, she/he/it we, they).
| I don’t have time. | I wish I had time. |
| I don’t have time, | but I wish I did. |
| She is absent. | She wishes she weren’t absent. |
| She is absent, | but She wishes she weren’t. |
| He can understand. | He wishes he couldn’t understand. |
| He can understand, | but He wishes he couldn’t. |
When we use a comma and but (, but), we use the appropriate auxiliary.
2- Expressing wishes about the past:
When we express a wish in the past, we use the past perfect.
| The true situation: | Expressing a wish about that situation: |
| (Simple past) | (Past perfect) |
| She didn’t see him. | She wishes (that) she had seen him. |
| They were not present. | They wish (that) they hadn’t been present. |
| He could understand. | He wishes he couldn’t understand. (?) |
| I didn’t have time. | I wish I had had time. |
| I had not time. | I wish I hadn’t had time. |
| He had to wait. | He wishes he hadn’t had to wait. |
| She was absent. | She wishes she hadn’t been absent. |
When we use a comma and but (, but), we use the appropriate auxiliary.
I didn’t have time. I wish I had had time.
I didn’t have time, but I wish I had.
She was absent. She wishes she hadn’t been absent.
She was absent, but She wishes she hadn’t.
3- Contrary-to-fact in the present/Future:
If is used to talk about situation that are contrary to
fact, situation that are the opposite of the true situation.
True situation: She doesn’t have time.
Making a wish: She wishes she had time
Contrary-to-fact situations: If she had time, she
could/would stay with us.
= She could/would stay with us if she had time.
Conditional sentence = If-clause, result clause
= Result clause If clause
Would: Wants to = intended or desired
Could: Expressing a possibility, possible
options = would be able to.
True situation: We aren’t ready yet.
Making a wish: We wish we were ready.
Contrary-to-fact situations: If we were ready,
we could/would go right now.
Contrary-to-fact sentences with an if-clause and
a result clause are called conditional sentences.
Special verb forms are used:
The simple past tense is used to discuss a present
or future situation in an if-clause.
Would or could + a simple form of the verb is used in
the result clause.
True situation: She doesn’t have time.
True situation: If She has time, She will/Can stay with us.
We can use the simple present in a if-clause of the
conditional clause and will/can + a simple form of the
verb in a result clause:
Perhaps she doesn’t have time. If that is true,
she will stay with us.
Contrary-to-fact situations: If she had time,
she could/would stay with us.
In reality, in true, in fact she doesn’t have
time. But in the contrary, if the opposite
were true she would/could stay.
4- Contrary-to-fact in the past:
- The past perfect tense is used to discuss a past
situation in an if-clause.
- Would have or could + have + past participle is
used in the result clause.
True situation: She didn’t have time.
Making a wish: She wishes she had had time
Contrary-to-fact situations: If she had had time,
she could/would have written to us a letter.
True situation: We weren’t ready yesterday.
Making a wish: We wish we had been ready.
Contrary-to-fact situations: If we had been ready,
we could/would have gone.
5- Summary:
| Situation: | |
| If-clause | result clause |
| In the present/Future: | | |
| True: | simple present | will/can + simple form |
| Contrary-to-fact: | simple past | would/could + simple form |
| In the past: | | |
| Contrary-to-fact: | past perfect | would have + past participle |
Abder. Ajaja - © - All rights reserved 2002.
|
|
