I WISH & IF ONLY (wishes and regrets) - English Grammar for B2 First (FCE)

Do you want to change something about your present situation? I know that I do! It's 35 degrees here and I am sweating like a pig! Or maybe you have done something in the past that you now regret, something you look back on and think "oh no that was a terrible idea!". Do you have any friends that have annoying habits that really drive you crazy? To express these things in English we need to know how to use "wish" and "if only". My name is Toby, this is SMASH English and here is all you need to know about "wish" and "if only" for the B2 First Cambridge exam. We use "I wish" or 'if only" + the past simple to talk about present situations that we want to change. For example, I wish the weather were not so hot. The weather is very hot in the present, I think this is terrible so I wish the weather were not so hot. I wish I were rich because I'm not rich and I would like to be rich. Notice that here we are using "were" instead of "was". "was" is correct too but we use "were" to emphasize that something is unreal, something is hypothetical. Very similar to the second conditional: "if I were you" not "if I was you" Oh my god! Shut up, Johnny. I should so be with like Trey! He knows how to treat me! He tells me I'm beautiful every single day and I deserve it because I am beautiful! No... I'm... My god! Shut up! I wish you were dead! Actually no, I wish I were dead and then you'd know what it was like to live in a world without beauty! yeah! Oh and I wish I had more subscribers because right now I have very few so uh... yeah? Thanks! We use "wish" and "if only" + the past perfect to talk about regrets: things we did do or didn't do in the past that we now think were bad ideas. For example: if only I had not eaten all that pizza, I feel terrible now! This means I did eat the pizza and now I think that was a very bad idea. If only I hadn't become an English teacher, now I would be rich! So this means that I am an English teacher and I'm not rich. Johnny I'm so sorry, oh my god! I wish we hadn't argued! I wish I hadn't said those horrible things to you! If only I hadn't said those horrible things! Johnny, where are you going? Johnny, please don't go! Johnny! Johnny! Yeah, Trey!? Hello, hello! Right, yeah, yeah, yeah it's me: Monica! Yeah, yeah I wish I hadn't called Johnny like if only I hadn't called Johnny. It was a really stupid thing to do and I wish I had chosen to go out with you instead so right now I'm free whenever you want me to be free so you're... Trey? Trey!? We use "wish" or "if only" + would + infinitive to express annoyance. Someone or something is doing something and you really don't appreciate it. For example: I wish you wouldn't shout all the time. This means you do shout all the time and I do not like it. If only it wouldn't rain so much! This means it rains a lot and I don't like it. If only you wouldn't drive so fast! One day you could crash! This means that you drive very fast regularly, I'm worried you will crash so I get to very angry with you when you drive fast! So when could you use these structures in the exam? Well part two of the use of English of course: the Open Cloze part of the test. Normally this will be the auxiliary verb in the structure so the was, the were, the had. Maybe if they are feeling especially cruel: the would. For example: "he wished he hmm not been so short-sighted". Well here we're talking about a regret so the auxiliary verb is "had". "If only more people hmm more understanding of the situation". Here we are talking about something in the present that we want to change so we need "were": the past simple. Or maybe "she wished her boyfriend hmm stop complaining". Well now we are expressing annoyance so the answer is "would". You can tell by looking at the grammar structure of the sentence whether you need a were, had or would. Of course part four of the use of English, the word transformations, often has questions that require you to understand "wish" and "if only". An example could be "I can't be on the basketball team because I am not tall enough". The answer: "I wish I were taller so I could be on the basketball team" or "John regretted not studying harder at school". Here we're talking about regret because we have the word "regret". "John wished he had studied harder at school". Simple, right? So just look for it, you will probably find it and then you can say "yes I know how to do this because it's really easy!". Part 1 of the speaking exam is another great opportunity to use this to avoid using the present simple. Don't use the present simple in part 1! Remember your answers don't need to be true so just try to use this grammar whenever you can. Do you have a brother? If only I had a brother he would be my best friend! Do you like eating in restaurants? I love eating in restaurants! if only I could go to restaurants more often! Do you have any plans for the immediate future? No, I don't. If only I could plan for my immediate future but I cannot because of COVID. So your answers don't need to be true just try and use the grammar and the examiner's will be very happy with you! And with that we are finished! Now you know all you need to know about "wish" and "if only" for the B2 First Cambridge exam. If you liked the video don't forget to SMASH that like button, subscribe if you haven't already, leave a comment down below! My name is Toby and this was SMASH English.

Channel: SMASH English - Cambridge English Exam Preparation

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Id: B6Si3Op79Sw

Length: 7min 10sec (430 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 05 2020