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What is the difference between these two?

From my understanding:

I hope I will not regret this - this means he has hope that in the future he will not regret something he has done (or will do).

I hope I do not regret this - because of using "hope" before "don't" it seems he is referring to future as well (if I understand that correctly). I can't see a difference in meaning from the first one.

So do they actually mean the same or there is a difference?

GileBrt
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yhujik76
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  • The difference between them is no more than the difference between I hope I will not become ill, and I hope I don't become ill. And that is no difference at all. – WS2 Feb 20 '15 at 23:50
  • What we will and what we do are inextricably connected. I don't smoke, because I won't smoke. What we will and what we do impact the future. I don't lie today, so I won't lie tomorrow either. I hope I won't regret this intersects with I hope I don't regret this: in the future, when the shit hits the fan. – ScotM Feb 20 '15 at 23:57

1 Answers1

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They are equivalent. English only has two inflected tenses, past and nonpast. Whether a verb in the nonpast form refers to the present or future must be inferred from context.

When it would be unclear, we explicitly indicate a future time with time phrases such as tomorrow, or with auxiliary verbs such as be going to.

Jon Purdy
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