English B2 · wish and if only
ภาษาอังกฤษ B2 หัวข้อ 4 4:28 การบรรยายภาษาอังกฤษ · คำบรรยายภาษาอังกฤษ + 中文 ลอยตัวบนภาพ
บท
Transcript
Wish and if only are the polite cousins of the conditionals. The verb inside the wish wears the costume of the unreal: the past form for the present you want changed, the past perfect for the past you regret, and would for other people's behaviour. I wish I were taller. I wish I had studied harder. I wish you would stop singing; please; the cat agrees. The memory hook: wish is a lamp, and it checks grammar.
Wishing about the present takes the past form. I am not tall, so I wish I were taller. We don't have a car, so if only we had a car. She can't come, so I wish she could come. The costume rule from if I were you holds: formal wishes prefer were for everyone. The past form is the costume; the time is now. And if only is the dramatic cousin, best said while looking at noodle prices.
Pause and choose. I wish I were taller. The unreal present wears the past costume, and the exam answer is were. Am breaks the spell with the real present, was is common speech but not the exam, and would be complains about yourself, which the lamp refuses.
Regretting the past takes wish plus had plus the participle. I didn't bring an umbrella; I am wet; I wish I had brought an umbrella. If only I had listened to the weather forecast. This is the third conditional's if-side, standing alone, and no result clause follows; the result is silence and rain. The regret rewinds: had brought, had listened, had studied.
Pause and choose. I wish I had started the homework yesterday. A past regret takes the past perfect. Started alone regrets the present, would start complains about a habit, and would have started is a result clause with no if; the homework sends no regards either way.
Wish plus would is for things you want to change: other people's behaviour and annoying situations. I wish you would stop singing. I wish it would stop raining. But never would about yourself: I wish I would study more is impossible, because you control you. For self-wishes, use could or the past: I wish I could focus; I wish I studied more. You can't complain to the lamp about yourself; the lamp has standards.
Pause and choose. I hope you pass the exam. A real possibility takes hope. Wish is for the unreal: I wish you would pass whispers doubt, and I wish you had passed says you didn't. Xiwang covers both in Chinese; English splits them by how real the dream is.
Yaoshi-jiu-haole covers everything in Chinese; English splits it by time. A present wish takes the past form: I wish I were taller. A past regret takes the past perfect: I wish I had studied harder. A complaint takes would: I wish you would stop singing. And two guards: the real present inside a wish breaks the spell — never I wish I am taller — and a wish never grows a result clause, so no would have passed after it. The time of the unreal thing picks the costume.
Make three wishes; the lamp is listening, and it checks grammar. I wish I were taller; the top shelf remains my enemy. If only I had started the homework yesterday. I wish the weekend would come faster; it won't; it enjoys this. And one real hope to close: I hope we all pass. That is a real possibility; we have grammar on our side now.
Pause for four checks. I wish I were taller: the present wish wears the past costume. I wish I had brought an umbrella: the past regret, rewound. I wish it would stop raining: the complaint takes would. And I hope you pass: a real possibility takes hope. Next topic: the advanced passive, where even the indirect object gets a turn in the spotlight.