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In this post we will be looking at the verbs ‘wish’ and ‘hope’, as well as other expressions which can have the same meaning.

First of all, take a look at this picture :

A man is trying to open a door to escape from three dangerous-looking youths holding knives. It is night and there is no-one else around.

The man says the following things:

• I wish a policeman would come along.
• If only they would stop following me.

• I wish I could call the police.
• If only I could open this door.

• I wish I had a mobile phone.
• If only I was 20 years younger.
• I wish they didn’t have those knives.

‘If only’ and ‘I wish’ have exactly the same meaning, so you can use either one.

First of all, let’s consider the difference between ‘I wish’ and ‘I hope’ :

• I wish a policeman would come along.
• I hope a policeman comes along.

In the first sentence, the nuance is that the man thinks it is very unlikely that a policeman will come - almost impossible. In the second sentence, the nuance is that it is quite possible that a policeman will come.

(1) “I wish … would …” : we usually use this construction to talk about other people and not about ourselves.

• I wish he would shut up. - RIGHT
• I wish I would speak better English. - WRONG

This is because we use “I wish … would …” to talk about things that we have no control over. Your ability in English depends on you, so you have control over it, so using ‘would’ sounds strange.

We do sometimes use “I wish … would …” about ourselves, usually to talk about some bad habit that we can’t stop or some situation that we cannot control:

• I wish I wouldn’t keep making the same mistakes.
• I wish I would get better. (ie. recover from an illness)

(2) “I wish … could …” : we usually use this construction to talk about ourselves or other people.

• I wish I could speak English more fluently. - (but I can’t)
• I wish he could help me. - (but he can’t 彼は手伝うことが出来ない)
• I wish he would help me. - (but he won’t 彼は手伝ってくれない)

(3) “I wish … 過去形 …” : we use this construction to talk about something that is not true or does not or will not happen, though we wish it would…

• I wish I knew the answer. - (but I don’t)
• I wish I was strong. - (but I’m not)

Practice : let’s do a practice. See if you can make some sentences using :

1. “I wish … would …” / “If only … would …”
2. “I wish … could …” / “If only … could …”
3. “I wish … 過去形 …” / “If only … 過去形 …”

Here are some situations for you to imagine. In the audio files I have recorded 3 examples for each situation using all of the constructions.

1. “It’s raining”.
2. “You’re lonely”.
3. “You’re ill in bed”.
4. “Your car’s broken down”.
5. “You’re short of money”.

When talking about something that you were wishing (in the past), we tend to use ‘hope’ instead of ‘wish’. For example:

• I was wishing someone would help me. - (rather unnatural)
• I was hoping that someone would help me, but no-one did. - (OK)

Those are the basics - there is of course more to this. For example, you can use wish to talk about past regrets, but we’ll cover that another time. Don’t forget about the difference between ‘wish’ and ‘hope’.