Wish & Hope
Wish and hope are used differently in English. They are not the same. Both words describe what we want or would like.
I wish I had a car.
I hope it snows tomorrow.
Hope
Hope is used to describe possible situations that we would like in the past, present, or future.
Past
I hope my team won last night.
I hope you had a good weekend.
Present
I hope you like your food.
I hope it isn't raining outside.
Future
We can talk about the future with hope using the present or future tenses. The most common tense used with hope is the Present Simple. With hope, the Present Simple can have a future meaning:
We hope you come again.
- We hope you'll come again.
I hope that doesn't happen again.
- I hope that won't happen again.
I hope my phone doesn't die soon.
- I hope my phone isn't going to die soon.
She hopes it's a girl.
- She hopes it will be a girl.
We can also say hope to do something about the future:
- I hope to see you soon.
- We hope to pass the test.
- He hopes to get a new computer soon.
"I hope so"
It is popular in English to say I hope so:
A: Are you coming to the party tonight?
B: I hope so.
A: Has it stopped raining outside?
B: I hope so.
For negatives, do not say, "I don't hope so". Instead, we say I hope not:
A: Is it expensive?
B: I hope not.
A: Has Brenda gone home already?
B: I hope not.
Exercise
Open the exercise to begin the activity. Follow the instructions in the document.
Wish
Wish is also used to talk about what we want, but its use means what we want is not possible.
Meaning
I would like to be able to fly, but I know this is not possible. I can't fly.
I wish I could fly.
I would like it to be sunny right now, but it's cloudy.
I wish it were sunny.
When we use wish, we need to change our sentence one level to the past.
Present → Past
I don't have a girlfriend.
- I wish I had a girlfriend.
It's raining.
- I wish it wasn't / weren't raining.
I can't speak Chinese.
- I wish I could speak Chinese.
This costs a lot of money.
- I wish it didn't cost a lot of money.
Will → Would
We want something to happen in the future, but it probably won't.
I wish this bus would go faster.
I wish the weather would change.
I wish you'd help me.
I wish you'd call me more often.
Past → Past Perfect
We often say, "I wish I had done..." to describe a regret.
Past Perfect = had + pp
I didn't wake up early. I didn't have time to eat breakfast because I woke up late.
- I wish I had woken up early.
I didn't study last night because I was tired. Now, I don't the answers for the test.
- I wish I had studied last night.
I went to see a movie last night. It was terrible.
- I wish I hadn't gone to see that movie last night.
I drank some old milk and now I feel a little sick.
- I wish I hadn't drunk the old milk.
Exercise
Open the exercise to begin the activity. Follow the instructions in the document.