wish

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peter123

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Hi there,

I wish you had brought your wife with you to the party.
I wish you could have brought your wife with you to the party.

any difference?

tks
pete
 

peter123

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Hi there,
any idea??
tks
pete
 

corum

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Hi there,

I wish you had brought your wife with you to the party.
I wish you could have brought your wife with you to the party.

any difference?

tks
pete

#1 simply means you did not bring you wife with you to the party (the reason is not specified), and it is a pity to the speaker
#2 means there was no opportunity for your wife to come along
 

peter123

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peter123

Senior Member
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Malaysia
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Hi there,


any idea?

tks
pete
 

emsr2d2

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Hi there,


any idea?

tks
pete

You've already been given an answer to your question, to which you inexplicably replied "NO!"

I generally agree with the original response.

I wish you had brought your wife to the party = I think it would have been nice/preferable if your wife had come with you.

I wish you could have brought your wife to the party = It is a shame/pity that something prevented you from bringing your wife (ie you physically could not bring her for some reason).
 

Nightmare85

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I've been visiting forums for more than 6 years, and I have never read such a funny but yet strange answer :shock:

Why don't you agree, by the way?

Cheers!
 

peter123

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Hi there,
1. I wish you had brought your wife to the party.
2. I wish you could have brought your wife to the party.
The first one has a sense of 'oh, it is a shame that you didn't bring her.' But the second one has a sense of 'You could bring her with you, why didn't you'.

tks
pete
 

Nightmare85

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**Neither a teacher nor a native speaker.**

Hi there,
1. I wish you had brought your wife to the party.
2. I wish you could have brought your wife to the party.
The first one has a sense of 'oh, it is a shame that you didn't bring her.' -agreed- But the second one has a sense of 'You could bring her with you, why didn't you'.-disagreed-

tks
pete

Example:
Q: Why couldn't you bring her with you?
A: Because she was sick.
(This is how I see it.)

Cheers!
 

Barb_D

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Despite your "NO!" Corum and emsr and Nightmare are right.
 
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