I wish you would…

  • B2 · Upper-intermediate
  • Grammar lesson
  • 60 min
  • wish + would

wish + would for things we want other people to change: I wish you would put your phone away at dinner. I wish you wouldn't call me that! The student reads a family group chat full of wishes, works out which wishes can take would, turns complaints into wishes, and ranks the everyday habits that annoy them most.

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I wish you wouldwouldn'twould stop

What's in the lesson

  1. 1Warm-up
  2. 2In this lesson
  3. 3Reading: the family chatReading comprehension
  4. 4What does it mean?Grammar exercise
  5. 5Find the wishes with wouldGrammar exercise
  6. 6wish + wouldGrammar rule
  7. 7would or not?Grammar exercise
  8. 8Which wish?Grammar exercise
  9. 9From complaint to wishGrammar exercise
  10. 10Find the mistakeGrammar exercise
  11. 11Say it naturallySpeaking practice
  12. 12Annoying habitsSpeaking practice
  13. 13About youGrammar exercise
  14. 14Wrap-up

Homework

  1. 1Homework: wishes at workGrammar exercise
  2. 2Homework: which sentence is correct?Grammar exercise
  3. 3Homework: build the wishesGrammar exercise
  4. 4Homework: an honest messageDiscussion

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

A few questions about you before we start.

  1. How does your family keep in touch during the week?
  2. Which household chore causes the most arguments in your home?
  3. When you were a teenager, what did your parents always ask you to do?

Grammar rule

wish + would

Example
wish + someone + would + base verbI wish my neighbor would mow his lawn later on Sundays.
wish + someone + wouldn't + base verbI wish you wouldn't finish my sentences for me.
wish + something + wouldI wish the phone would ring.
Short formI wish she'd text back. · I wish they'd hurry up.

When do we use it?

  • We want someone else to change, often a habit that annoys us. It can sound like a complaint or a strong request: I wish you would just tell me the truth!
  • We want a thing, or the weather, to do something: I wish the snow would melt.
  • The wish is about now or the future, even though would looks like the past.

Watch out

  • Not about yourself: I wish I would… → I wish I could dance (an ability), I wish I had more patience, I wish I were less shy.
  • Not for a state (be, have, know, live, own): I wish my car would be faster → I wish my car were (or was) faster. I wish my apartment would have a yard → I wish my apartment had a yard.
  • Not will after wish: I wish you will call → I wish you would call.
  • About the past, the past perfect (lesson 8): I wish you had told me.
  • For something that may really happen, hope + present: I hope the package arrives today. (not I wish the package arrives)
  • 'd = would here, so a base verb follows: I wish you'd wait. ('d + past participle = had: I wish you'd waited.)

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← Unit 2I wish I had done