NEB Grade XI Compulsory English Note | Language Development | Unit- 12 Subjunctive Mood | Wish | Part 3

Unit:12

Subjunctive Mood

Wish

The verb ‘wish’ or ‘if only’ is used to talk about things which we want, but are impossible.

I wish I could see him next week.

If only I could stop for a cold drink.

I wish we had a big house.

WISH + SIMPLE PAST is used to talk about a wish for the present:

subject + wish+ one tense back

I don't like this place.

I wish I lived somewhere more interesting .

It is very cold now.

I wish it were warmer now.

I don’t know her address.

I wish I knew her address.

WISH + WOULD or COULD is used to talk about a wish for the future:

You use my mobile phone without permission.

I wish you wouldn’t use my mobile phone without permission.

You disturb me all the time.

I wish you would leave me alone.

I can’t speak Japanese.

I wish I could speak Japanese.

He sneezes and coughs a lot.

I wish he could stop sneezing and coughing.

WISH + PAST PERFECT is used to talk about a wish for the past:

She forgot to call me yesterday.

I wish she hadn’t forgot to call me yesterday.

She bought a cheap watch.

She wishes she had bought an expensive watch.

B. Express your wishes in the following situations in three different ways. Use I wish/If only…….

a. You don’t have a mobile phone (You need one).

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Answer:

I wish I talked to my father about it.

I wish I could buy one myself.

I wish somebody would gift me one.

b. You don’t know the answer of a question from the lesson.

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Answer:

I wish my frend told me the answer.

I wish my teacher would help me.

I wish I could read the lesson properly.

c. You can’t play the guitar.

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Answer:

I wish I brought a guitar lesson book.

I wish someone would teach me guitar chords.

I wish I could go to the guitar expert’s.

d. It’s cold.

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Answer:

I wish I drank hot water.

I wish my mother would burn some firewood.

I wish I could stay inside the house.

e. You are feeling sick.

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Answer:

I wish I were healthy.

I wish somebody would call a doctor.

I wish I could go to hospital.

f. You live in a crowded city.

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Answer:

I wish I lived in the country.

I wish the city would be peaceful.

I wish I could spend a couple of weeks far from the city.

g. You feel lonely.

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Answer:

I wish I listened to my favourite music.

I wish my friend would phone me.

I wish I could do the household works.

C. Rewrite the following sentences making correction if necessary.

a. I wish my father bought me a bike.

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Answer:
I wish my father bought me a bike.

b. I wish I would write poems.

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Answer:
I wish I could write poems.

c. I wish I could remember her name.

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Answer:
I wish I could remember her name.

d. I wish I had a god job.

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Answer:
I wish I had a god job.

e. I wish I would be rich.

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Answer:
I wish I were rich.