Wish and if only: rules and examples

If only uses the same patterns as wish, but it sounds stronger and more emotional. It often stands alone as an exclamation: "If only I had listened to my teacher!" "If only it would stop raining!"

If only also appears at the start of a conditional: "If only I had left earlier, I wouldn't have missed the flight."

After wish and if only, were is used with I, he, she and it: "I wish I were taller." Was is common in speech and is accepted, but were is preferred in formal writing.

Don't use would about your own situation: "I wish I had a car", not "I wish I would have a car". Would is for other people or things you can't control.

"I wish I would have studied" is heard in some speech, but the standard form is "I wish I had studied".

Use hope for something that is possible and that you want to happen: "I hope you pass your exam." Use wish for something unreal or unlikely: "I wish I didn't have an exam tomorrow."

Wish can also take a noun phrase in fixed greetings: "I wish you good luck." "We wish you a happy birthday." In formal English, wish + to-infinitive means want: "I wish to make a complaint."

• Wrong: I wish I have a bigger house.

  Right: I wish I had a bigger house.

  A wish about the present takes the past simple.

• Wrong: I wish you will get the job.

  Right: I hope you get the job.

  For a possible future, use hope, not wish.

• Wrong: If only I know her number.

  Right: If only I knew her number.

  If only uses the past simple for the present.

• Wrong: I wish I can come to your wedding.

  Right: I wish I could come to your wedding.

  Use could, the past of can, after wish.

Wish and if only suit IELTS Speaking, especially Part 2 cue cards about regrets, skills you would like to learn or past decisions: "I wish I had started learning music earlier." In Part 3, they help you discuss changes you would like to see in society. In essays they are less common, but "Many people wish they had saved more" can work in a discussion of finance or education.

Try each one, then open it to check your answer.

1. 1. Complete this: "I wish I ___ (have) more free time."

   had

   A present wish takes the past simple.

2. 2. Complete this: "She wishes she ___ (not / eat) so much last night."

   hadn't eaten

   A past regret takes the past perfect.

3. 3. Choose: "I (wish / hope) it doesn't rain tomorrow."

   hope

   Rain tomorrow is a real possibility, so use hope.

4. 4. Correct this: "I wish I would be rich."

   I wish I were rich.

   Don't use would about your own situation.

5. 5. Complete this: "If only my phone ___ (stop) freezing!"

   would stop

   Would shows annoyance at something you can't control.

• Conditionals
• Tenses
• Modal verbs
• Subject-verb agreement
• Auxiliary verbs
• All grammar lessons
• Everyday English sentences