enricol88
Member
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2015
- Member Type
- Student or Learner
- Native Language
- Italian
- Home Country
- Italy
- Current Location
- UK
Hello everybody.
Today I'd like to ask you something about the use of the verb Wish.
My question doesn't involve all of uses, but just 3 of them. Let's give an example to be clearer:
1) I wish (that) I spoke French.
2) I wish (that) I would speak French.
3) I wish (that) I had spoken French.
Now, what I know is that in 3) we regret about something happened in the past, but we wanted that action had happened differently (the action has finished and we can't change it anymore); it basically means that we wanted (in the past) speak French, but we didn't and now we can't do anything to change this situation. Is that right???
My doubt now is about 1) and 2).
How to use them properly?? and, especially, how to distinguish them??
I mean, I read lots of explanations about it, but they seem to be approximately the same to my mind.
Thanks in advance for your help
Today I'd like to ask you something about the use of the verb Wish.
My question doesn't involve all of uses, but just 3 of them. Let's give an example to be clearer:
1) I wish (that) I spoke French.
2) I wish (that) I would speak French.
3) I wish (that) I had spoken French.
Now, what I know is that in 3) we regret about something happened in the past, but we wanted that action had happened differently (the action has finished and we can't change it anymore); it basically means that we wanted (in the past) speak French, but we didn't and now we can't do anything to change this situation. Is that right???
My doubt now is about 1) and 2).
How to use them properly?? and, especially, how to distinguish them??
I mean, I read lots of explanations about it, but they seem to be approximately the same to my mind.
Thanks in advance for your help