I wish…

July 2, 2009  |  Posted by profanglais  

‘Wish’ is often used in English to express a regret that we can’t achieve what we want. It is therefore not a good translation of the French verb ‘souhaiter’.

For example, you might want to say, ‘je souhaite visiter les Cevennes pendant l’été.’
An incorrect translation would be:

I wish to visit the Cevennes during the summer’

A better translation would be:

‘I’d like to visit the Cevennes during the summer’

‘Wish’ is used to speak about a desire, or a wish, that is not possible to achieve at this present time:

The weather is hot, I’m very thirsty, but there’s nothing to drink. I wish I had a nice cold beer!’

In this case, ‘wish’ is followed by another verb in the past:

I wish I had…more money!
I wish I could…leave my job and travel the world
I wish I were… taller, stronger, slimmer, cleverer…
I wish I spoke… better English!

What do you wish? Leave your answers in the comment form below.

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14 comments

  1. jose says:
    August 8, 2009 at 10:34 am

    It’s very good lesson!
    I wish I became player in the team world football.
    I’d like to buy the Dictionnary English,but I havn’t money.I wish I spoke in English fluently!

  2. profanglais says:
    July 27, 2009 at 10:27 pm

    Linda,
    We have expressions like, ‘I wish you lots of luck’ ‘I wish you well’ but very often we use an imperative, in your example, English speakers say simply, ‘have a good holiday’

  3. natachayoumbai says:
    July 21, 2009 at 3:49 pm

    I wish i could spoke english a fluently in a future because i want to visit england there i find my self ready to speak with english people good afternoon

  4. yota says:
    July 19, 2009 at 4:40 pm

    i wish my friends had passed their exam

  5. Linda says:
    July 18, 2009 at 6:23 pm

    Hello Prof,

    thanks for your website.
    About “wish” I was wondering can “wish be use to wish something good to someone, for example : I wish to have nice holidays ?

    Thanks for your answer.

  6. NBO says:
    July 18, 2009 at 2:51 pm

    I wish I had better english speaking courses at school !

    I enjoy that website, very useful

  7. issa says:
    July 17, 2009 at 8:22 pm

    I wish I had a beautiful girlfriend.

  8. clarisse says:
    July 11, 2009 at 4:06 pm

    Bonjour cher prof
    envoyez moi les devoirs je ne m’en sort pas du tout.
    merci d’avance

  9. profanglais says:
    July 9, 2009 at 9:16 pm

    “I wish I could find a lovely husband”
    Good luck!

  10. Asse says:
    July 9, 2009 at 10:35 am

    I wish I had a child.
    I wish I found a lovely husband.
    I wish I could speak english as my mother tongue

  11. Laëtitia says:
    July 7, 2009 at 1:20 pm

    Hello, I come rather regularly on your site, but I would have liked finding a guide to print who synthetizes just a little of everything. I am in 1st year of BTS but I have difficulties in English which I would like to fill.
    Thank you

  12. anglais facile says:
    July 6, 2009 at 11:44 am

    I wish I could speak 5 languages and travel the world :)

  13. profanglais says:
    July 5, 2009 at 3:11 pm

    You have a lot of regrets, Nico!
    Perhaps, ‘I wish team had scored some goals this year’ is more appropriate – that would be like, ‘si seulement mon équipe avait marqué des buts cette saison!’

  14. Nico says:
    July 5, 2009 at 11:01 am

    I wish I had english-speaker relatives
    I wish I had all my point on my driving licence
    I wish I were in a relationship
    We wish the team scored a goal this (that) year!
    I wish I could have some quiet during my sleep.

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