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Originally Posted by bosun I have still a few questions.
first, what is the difference between hope and wish in terms of meaning?
I wish he would be fine vs. I hope he will be fine.
when do you actually say I wishhe would be fine and when do you say i hope he will be fien?
it is really confusing. Please help me! |
wish -desire
Take ,for instance, the usual wish uttered on Christmas : I wish you a Merry Christmas !.. that is: My desire is that you have a merry Christmas!
I wish he would get better - My desire is that he get well. He doesn`t feel well now and my strong desire is that he gets better soon.
hope - expectation
I hope he will get better -I expect that he will get better. I think that when a speaker uses " hope", his implication [of the speaker] is more profound.
An interpretation for "hope":
If someone says " I hope you have a Merry Christmas!" it may mean that you did something wrong and upset that person who thinks you don`t deserve a merry Christmas
e.g. It is Christmas Eve. You threaten somebody pointing a gun at him. The police come and arrest you. You are in jail. The victim visits you [ or a victim`s relative comes] and says or wishes you ironically : "I hope you have a Merry Christmas!" and he gets out of the room. How do you feel then?
Did you get my point?
Well, this is one of the many interpretations we can find for "hope"
These 2 words cannot be confused if you follow and try to understand all the explanations given by the members of this site.
I hope this will help you !
Regards,