0

Let us suppose we want to say that we want to resume practicing a language before we forget it absolutely. So we will say:

I wish I would resume ... before ...

And what after before? Can we use the same pattern here - that is present conditional?

Also I am curious what conditional should be used if the sentence starts with I wish I resumed and I wish I had resumed, that is hypothetical situation (when we cannot resume) and when we regret we did not resume in the past (and now it is too late)

Mari-Lou A
  • 91,183
olegst
  • 1,173
  • 1
    It's preferable to say: "I wish I could resume my studies" to express a form of regret in the present. If on the other hand you want to express regret in the past then: "I wish I had resumed my studies". I know this doesn't answer your question, but you really should write the example sentence in full. – Mari-Lou A Apr 04 '15 at 07:31
  • Just to be clear: Do we mean that we hope you will resume in the future, or do we regret that we failed to resume in the past and now we have forgotten it absolutely? – Jim Reynolds Apr 04 '15 at 07:31
  • @Mar I posted my comment before I saw yours. I think we are more likely to use hope for the future. We'd use wish if we wanted to, but some obstacle made it impossible to do so. – Jim Reynolds Apr 04 '15 at 07:35
  • I'd like to know how the conditional should be formulated for all the three cases: hope I'll resume in the future, regret I didn't resume and now it's late and hypothetical wish. – olegst Apr 04 '15 at 07:36
  • 1
    "I hope I will resume. . ." (future) and "I hope I can resume . . ." (present) are both fine. "to hope" and "to wish" are used differently. Italian learners also mix the two up. I see nothing wrong with "I wish I could resume . . . " to express a strong desire in the present. – Mari-Lou A Apr 04 '15 at 07:41
  • 1
    I recommend a simple online search. The first several results you get should pretty clearly explain what are commonly taught as the four kinds of conditionals. For example, see http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/conditionals.html . If you have more questions after that, please edit this one or create a new one. Please see the help section on this page for more information on appropriate or "good" questions. Flagging to close for want of research. – Jim Reynolds Apr 04 '15 at 07:42
  • The use of the verb wish indicates that the speaker wants reality to be different. As in unreal conditionals, the use of a past or past perfect tense verb indicates that the situation is impossible or unlikely. The use of hope, on the other hand, indicates that the speaker believes something is possible. – Mari-Lou A Apr 04 '15 at 07:46
  • Yes, please do some preliminary search online, then either edit or post a new question. Your question is not very clear, and it looks like you have just studied this form, your ideas seem to be muddled. Persevere, look at both links, these should help you. Good luck! – Mari-Lou A Apr 04 '15 at 07:49
  • @Mar Yes. In reality, wish or hope may be sometimes used without regard to that kind of distinction, especially in speech, but generally there is a significant difference in denotation as you wrote just above. Of course, the line between unlikely and possible is often fuzzy, of course. There can also be a factor of agency at work. We may use "wish" if an eventuality will be determined by something other than our personal will. (So a genie who appears from a lamp you rub may be considered quite likely to grant your wish, but since you rely on the genie, we'd call it a wish!!) – Jim Reynolds Apr 04 '15 at 07:52
  • 2
    The grammar of wishing is complex enough, and there are differences between BrE and AmE usage. As a British English speaker, for example, I doubt I would ever say I wish I would/n't ..., e.g. "I wish I wouldn't spend so much time on ELU." Neither can I conceive of a context in which "I wish I resumed ..." is possible. I suggest editing your post to ask a single question. You might also want to consult a recommended pedagogic grammar such as Swan's Practical English Usage, which has a good coverage of this topic. – Shoe Apr 04 '15 at 08:53
  • I think you're mistaking would in: "I wish you would remember to take your keys before leaving the house" for being conditional. It is not. Would expresses a repeated action action in the past, similar to used to. I wish it would stop raining is not conditional, it expresses an unreal situation i.e. tchrist's "counterfactuality". I cannot wish the rain to stop. – Mari-Lou A Apr 07 '15 at 09:00

1 Answers1

2

You should not characterize any of these as “present conditional”, whatever that means.

The verb wish is somewhat special in English in that it typically takes a subordinate clause explicitly marked for counterfactuality. Contrast these subordinate clauses governed by wish in the present tense:

  • I wish he were here.
  • I wish he would leave.
  • I wish I could help you.

With these where the clause is governed by hope and so have no counterfactuality marked:

  • I hope he is here.
  • I hope he leaves.
  • I hope I can help you.

This is the same as with know, whose clause is similarly unmarked:

  • I know he is here.
  • I know he is leaving.
  • I know I can help you.

Instead, wish works more like these using if only, which are again explicitly marked for counterfactuality:

  • If only he were here!
  • If only he would leave!
  • If only I could help you!

There are fancy grammatical terms for all these, but using them in English just confuses matters. These is nothing “conditional” involved here.

If you are wishing for something to have been different in the past, you would have to use a past perfect to put it further in the past:

I wish he had called before he showed up here.

The use of would in phrases like this is related to volition, not to futurity.

I wish he would have called before he showed up here.

Using the simple past would be an habitual action:

I wish he called before showing up here.

Please see this answer for more.

Community
  • 1
tchrist
  • 134,759
  • I had better paraphrase my question. Can subordinate clause following wish contain time expression? Can I say: I wish it happened before something else occurs ? – olegst Apr 06 '15 at 06:44