Hypothetical & Wish Clauses

Form

A wish shifts the verb one step back in time: a present situation becomes the past simple, and a past one becomes the past perfect (I wish I had more time; I wish I had taken the job).

After wish and if only, use the past simple for something you want to be different now, and the past perfect for something you regret. Were is the expected form after wish in formal writing, for every subject (I wish I were taller). Wish + would asks for a change you cannot make yourself (I wish he would listen; I wish it would stop raining), and it's high time takes the past simple too (It's high time we left).

When to Use It

1. 1

   A present situation you want to be different, with wish + the past simple

   I wish I lived closer to the office.

2. 2

   A past you regret, with wish + the past perfect

   I wish I had applied for that job.

3. 3

   An ability you don't have, with wish + could

   I wish I could drive.

4. 4

   Someone else's annoying habit, with wish + would

   I wish my neighbor would turn the music down.

5. 5

   The same ideas with stronger feeling, using if only in place of wish

   If only we had booked the hotel earlier.

6. 6

   Something that is overdue, with it's high time + the past simple

   It's high time you started looking for a new job.

Common Mistakes

• The present tense after wish: write I wish I knew the answer, not I wish I know the answer — the verb always steps back.
• Would for your own situation: write I wish I had more time, not I wish I would have more time — wish + would cannot be used about your own situation.
• The past simple for a past regret: write I wish I had called her, not I wish I called her — a finished action you regret needs the past perfect.
• Didn't in place of hadn't: write I wish I hadn't said that, not I wish I didn't say that — the past perfect is what turns it into regret.
• A present verb after it's high time: write It's high time we left, not It's high time we leave — this phrase takes the past simple as well.