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hela
Joined: 02 May 2004
Posts: 420
Location: Tunisia
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 Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2004 11:12 am Post subject: wish |
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Dear teachers,
Are the following sentences correct ? What do they mean exactly?
1- I wish I had learnt Spanish at school.
2- I wish I learnt Spanish at school.
3- I wish I understood what they a) said / b) were saying. (?)
4- She wishes we could come = She wishes us to come (?)
5- I wished he came.
6- It was high time for us to have gone / to go (?).
Thank you for your help.
Best wishes,
Hela |
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helen1
Joined: 24 Nov 2004
Posts: 115
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| Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2004 10:07 am Post subject: |
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Hi Hela,
meanings as follows:
| Quote: |
| 1- I wish I had learnt Spanish at school. |
vs
| Quote: |
| 2- I wish I learnt Spanish at school. |
Both correct
in 1 the speaker has left school and is expressing a desire to have learnt Spanish while s/he was there, whereas in 2 the speaker is still attending school and is expressing a desire either that Spanish classes were available or that s/he were taking Spanish as one of their classes.
| Quote: |
| 3- I wish I understood what they a) said / b) were saying. (?) |
Correct - the speaker is stating that s/he doesn't understand what they have said but is expressing a desire that s/he did understand.
| Quote: |
4- She wishes we could come = She wishes us to come (?) |
I believe this one would have a different answer for British and American English - In British English, we would only use she wishes us to come in very formal situations. The speaker is expressing a feeling of obligation - In the first she wishes we could come the speaker (and the person s/he is talking to) have been invited somewhere but can't go. The speaker is passing on a message of regret either from a person that will attend the event or from the person that invited them.
| Quote: |
| 5- I wished he came. |
This doesn't sound like a good sentence to me. - what were you trying to say?
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| 6- It was high time for us to have gone / to go (?) |
Either version is possible -
to have gone is focusing on the fact that the time to go has passed i.e. use of the perfect aspect sees the event as complete.
to go - we are still in a place but it is either the correct time or past time for us to go - but the focus here is on the 'going'
Hope this helps
Helen |
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hela
Joined: 02 May 2004
Posts: 420
Location: Tunisia
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| Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2004 10:26 am Post subject: |
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Hi Helen,
It's nice to hear from you again.
What I meant by sentence 5 - "I wished he came" is that she regretted in the past that her boyfriend did not come to the party for example.
Is that possible?
Merry Christmas to you and all the other internauts!
Sincerely yours,
Hela |
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helen1
Joined: 24 Nov 2004
Posts: 115
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| Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2004 10:56 am Post subject: |
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Hi Hela
| Quote: |
| What I meant by sentence 5 - "I wished he came" is that she regretted in the past that her boyfriend did not come to the party for example |
Sorry that construction isn't possible - you could say I wished he had come
Merry Christmas to you too.....[/i] |
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bud
Joined: 09 Mar 2003
Posts: 2111
Location: New Jersey, US
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| Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2004 1:36 pm Post subject: |
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I learn from you myself, Helen. Always great answers!... #4 works the same in American English.
Merry Christmad to you both. |
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