WISH

WISHES ABOUT THE PRESENT (OR FUTURE)

WISH + PAST SIMPLE is used to express that we want a

situation in the present (or future) to be different.
• I wish I spoke Italian. (I don’t speak Italian)
• I wish I had a big car. (I don’t have a big car)
• I wish I were on a beach. (I’m in the office) - (Standard English) / I wish I was 
• I wish it were the weekend. (It’s only Wednesday) - (Standard English) / I wish it was 
 WISHES ABOUT THE PRESENT (OR FUTURE)

WISH + PAST CONTINUOUS is used to express that we want to

be doing a different action in the present (or future).

• I wish I were lying on a beach now. (I’m sitting in the office)

• I wish it weren’t raining. (It is raining)
• I wish you weren’t leaving tomorrow. (You are leaving tomorrow)
 WISHES ABOUT THE PAST

WISH + PAST PERFECT is used to express a regret, or that

we want a situation in the past to be different.

• I wish I hadn’t eaten so much. (I ate a lot)

• I wish they’d come on holiday with us. (They didn’t come on holiday)
• I wish I had studied harder at school. (I was lazy at school)
WISH + WOULD + BARE INFINITIVE is used to express impatience,
annoyance or dissatisfaction with a present action.
• I wish you would stop smoking.
• You are smoking at the moment and it is annoying me.
• I wish it would stop raining.
• I’m impatient because it is raining and I want to go outside.
• I wish she’d be quiet.
• I am annoyed because she is speaking.
CONDITIONALS
ZERO CONDITIONAL:
It is used to talk about facts or situations which are always true.

• If + present simple ………….. present simple

• If you heat water, eventually it boils.

• If people don’t eat or drink, they die
• If you put ice in the sun, it melts
• If I eat too much, I get sick.
• If I am lost I look at a map.
• If you call to the dog, he comes
1st CONDITIONAL:
is used to talk about actions/events in the future which are likely to happen or
have a real possibility of happening.

If + present …………. will + verb

• If it rains tomorrow, I’ll stay at home.

(I think there is a real possibility of rain tomorrow. In this condition, I will stay at home
• If my father doesn’t buy me a bike for my birthday, I will be very unhappy.

(I think there is a real possibility that my father won’t buy me a bike. In this condition, I will be unhappy)
If + present …………. MODAL + verb
• If it’s sunny tomorrow, I might go to the beach. (going to the beach is only a possibility)
• If you come early, you can meet my mother. (it is possible for you to meet my mother)
2nd CONDITIONAL:
is used in situations/actions in the present or future which are not likely to happen or
are imaginary, hypothetical or impossible.

If + past ………….. would + verb

• If I won the lottery, I would travel around the world and buy a castle

(I think it is very unlikely that I will win the lottery. However, in this unlikely condition, I would travel and buy a castle.)
• If I wasn’t watching TV now, I would be playing football.

(I am watching TV, but I am imagining an alternative activity I would be doing if I wasn’t watching TV)
If + past ………….. modal + verb
• If I had more money, I could buy a car.
(Buying a car would be posible)
• If I won the lottery, I might give all the money to charity.

(Giving the money to charity is only a possibility)

3rd CONDITIONAL:
IT IS USED to imagine a different past (the situation can not be changed
because it’s past)

If + past perfect ………… would have + past participle

• If I’d done my homework, my teacher wouldn’t have shouted at me.
(In reality I didn’t do my homework and my teacher shouted at me)
• She would have passed her exam if she had studied more.
(In reality she didn’t study enough and so she didn’t pass her exam)
• If + past perfect ………… could have + past participle
• If they’d come earlier, they could have got a seat.
• If + past perfect ………… might have + past participle
• If I’d known, I might have come earlier
MIXED CONDITIONAL

If the result of an action is in the present, we use a mixed conditional:

If + past perfect, would + infinitive
• If it hadn’t rained, I would be at the beach  
• If it hadn’t rained, I would be sitting on the beach.
(In reality, it rained in the past and I am not at the beach now)