Wish or Hope?

[bosun]

I am not still confused about when to use wish or hope. As far as i know, wish indicates negative meaning while hope indicates positive meaning. Is that right? for example,

1. I wish I could pass the exam.( which means I don't think I will pass the exam)

2. I hope Iwill pass the exam.( I think it is highlly likely for me to pass the exam)

what about the following examples. does it make sense to you?

I wish you to find good products. vs. I hope you to find good products.
Also, If possible, please let me know the structure using hope and wish.
Thanks in advance.

[Fazzu]

Hello Bosun,

In the first the sentence, it means that you would like to pass the exam.
As for the second one, you think that you will pass the exam and you are right there too.

I wish you to find good products. vs. I hope you to find good products.

You may write as:
"I wish you would find good products" and "I hope you find good products".

When do we use 'wish' and 'hope':

I hope you are fine there.(you don't say 'wish' here)
I wish my dreams come true.(you want your dreams to come true)

Hope that helps.

[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!

[Passionwagon]

"I wish you to find good products" is fine, except it probably doesn't mean what you want it to mean. It actually means that you have ordered somebody to find good products, much like a Queen said on a throne might say "I wish you to find a golden goose and sit on it."

[Doris]

In terms of meaning, hope and wish are very close to each other. However, ‘hope’ suggests more probability.

Use ‘hope’ when there is hope (a chance) for something to happen.
Use ‘wish’ in situations, which are imagined, or hypothetical.

There is no negative meaning attached to ‘wish’, and no positive meaning attached to ‘hope’. However, when we say: “I wish you were here” we are primarily expressing a wish, a desire. Whereas when we say: “I hope you will be here” we are expressing an expectation.

It is possible to say: I wish I could grow wings and fly.
However, it would make no sense to hope for those wings to grow , to say that: I hope I will grow wings and fly.

Doris

[Teia]

Originally Posted by bosun

I am not still confused about when to use wish or hope. As far as i know, wish indicates negative meaning while hope indicates positive meaning. Is that right? for example,
1. I wish I could pass the exam.( which means I don't think I will pass the exam)
2. I hope Iwill pass the exam.( I think it is highlly likely for me to pass the exam)
what about the following examples. does it make sense to you?
I wish you to find good products. vs. I hope you to find good products.
Also, If possible, please let me know the structure using hope and wish.
Thanks in advance.

1. Wish does not imply or indicate a negative meaning. Wish means desire.[ My desire is to pass the exam but I don`t know if I can]
Hope means expectation.
2. I wish you to find good products -- my desire is that you find...
I hope .... - I expect that/ My expectation is that you find...

Fazzu and Doris have already given some good examples.


Regards,

[Teia]

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,

[Fazzu]

I hope Bosun still does not have any questions.
But feel free to post if you have any.

[bmiller]

Judging by the responses here, Bosun was not the only one confused by the differences between hope and wish.

Hope does have the meaning of 'want'.

Grammatically, after we use 'I hope' we often use a present tense with a future meaning...

I hope she likes (=will like) the flowers.
I hope the bus comes soon.

This is similar to the use of 'I bet', but with 'I hope' the speaker does not have any certainty that the future result will occur, just the desire.

Wish can also have the meaning of 'want.' for example when we use wish + an infinitive, but this is very formal.

EX: I wish to see the manager, please. (NOTE; We cannot use present continuous, "*I'm wishing to see the manager.")

An object + infinitive structure is also possible to mean want.

We do not wish our names to appear in public. (Note; wish + direct object is NOT normally possible. ex: *I wish an appointment with the manager.)

When we use wish with a that clause (we can drop the that in informal speech) wish does NOT mean want, but expresses regret that things are not different, and refers to situations that are unreal, impossible or unlikely.

I wish (that) I was better looking.
Don't you wish (that) you could fly?

Wish + that clause is NOT generally used for wishes about things that seem possible in the future. In these cases we usually use hope.

I hope you pass your exams. NOT (I wish you would pass your exams.)
I hope you feel better tomorrow. NOT (I wish you felt better tomorrow.)

I hope this helps (and I have confidence it will)
I wish that you will become a fluent speaker in 2008 (although I doubt that anyone can become fluent in just one year!!)