Wish vs. hope

We say ‘wish somebody luck / all the best / success’ etc.:

I wish you all the best in the future.

I saw Mark before the exam and he wished me luck.

We say ‘wish somebody something’ (e.g., luck, happiness), but we do not say ‘I wish something happens’. Instead, we use hope in this situation:

I’m sorry you’re not well. I hope you feel better soon. (not I wish you feel)

 Compare I wish and I hope

I wish you a pleasant stay at this hotel.

I hope you enjoy your stay at this hotel. (not I wish you enjoy)

We also use wish to express regret about something, implying that something is not as we would like it to be.

When we use wish in this way, we use the past tense (e.g., knew/lived), but the meaning is present:

I wish I knew what to do about the problem. (but I don’t know)

I wish you didn’t have to go so soon. (but you have to go)

Do you wish you lived near the sea? (you don’t live near the sea)

Jack’s going on a trip to Mexico soon. I wish I was going too. (but I’m not going)

To express regret about something that happened in the past, we use wish + had known / had said etc.:

I wish I’d known about the party. I’d have gone if I’d known. (but I didn’t know)

It was a stupid thing to say. I wish I hadn’t said it. (but I said it)

I wish I could (do something) = I regret that I cannot do it:

I’m sorry you have to go.                         I wish you could stay longer. (but you can’t)

I’ve met that man before.                        I wish I could remember his name. (but I can’t)

I wish I could have (done something) = I regret that I could not do it:

I hear the party was great.                     I wish I could have gone. (but I couldn’t go)

You can say ‘I wish something would happen’. For example:

It’s been raining all day. Tanya doesn’t like it. She says:

I wish it would stop raining.

Tanya would like the rain to stop, but this will probably not happen.

We use I wish … would when we would like something to happen or change.

We use I wish … would when we would like something to happen or change. It is often used to complain about a situation:

The phone has been ringing for five minutes. I wish somebody would answer it.

I wish you’d do (= you would do) something instead of just sitting and doing nothing.

You can use I wish … wouldn’t … to complain about things that people do repeatedly:

I wish you wouldn’t keep interrupting me. (= please stop interrupting me)

We use I wish … would to say that we want something to happen.

We do not use I wish … would to say how we would like things to be.

Compare:

• I wish Sarah would come. (= I want her to come)

But      I wish Sarah was (or were) here now. (not I wish Sarah would be)

• I wish somebody would buy me a car.

But    I wish I had a car. (not I wish I would have)

Try this exercise to test your grammar.

Language Level