Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[stevenukd]

Dear Teachers,

1. I wish you were always the best student in the class / in the school, and would get good points in the next exams.

2. I wish you always had much fun in life, got good grades in study, and always were a good son in your parents� eyes.

3. I wish you always got much success in your career, always enjoyed your life, and would find a good wife in the near future.

- Are 1, 2 & 3 natural?

Thanks a bunch to Teachers,

Stevenukd

[bud]

Steven, these are hard to answer because the form of each (I wish you...) is not very natural. "I wish you" is fine, but the following grammar in your examples is what is unnatural.

In my opinion, we often use "would" in an "I wish" construction when we are expressing a defined hope for the future:

I wish it would rain.
I wish you would reconsider your decision.
I wish I would win the lottery.

I'd guess that when we are expressing a more general wish (happiness, success, good health), we tend to use "I wish for..." In any example I can think of, the verb following this will be an infinitive:

I wish for you to be the best student in your class.
I wish for you to earn your parents' admiration.
I wish for you to be the new love interest of Brittney Spears.

(In this second set of examples, you could replace "wish" with "hope." Both are fine... I don't know why, but if we made the same switch in the first set of examples, we would also have to change "would" to "will," and we'd probably use the contacted form of "will.)