Wish and If only悔不當初

Wish and ‘If only’ are both used to talk about regrets – things that we would like to change either about the past or the present.

這兩個詞都是用來談論後悔的事--過去和現在想改變的事情。

Talking about the present

談論現在

•If only I didn’t have so much homework I could go to the concert tonight. She has a lot of homework and she can’t go to the concert.•I wish you.didn’t live so far away.
•I wish I knew what to do.

When we talk about present regrets, both wish and if only are followed by the past simple tense. The past tense emphasises that we are talking about something ‘unreal’.

當我們談到現在後悔的事，wish和if only都跟過去一般時。過去時強調我們談論的是不真實的事情。

Talking about the past

談論過去

•I wish I’d studied harder when I was at school. He didn’t study harder when he was at school.•I wish I hadn’t eaten all that chocolate. I feel sick.
•If only I’d known you were coming.

Both wish and if only are followed by the past perfect tense when we talk about past regrets.

當談論過去後悔的事，wish和if only都跟過去完成時。

Wish/if only and would

Wish/if only 和 would

We use wish + would to talk about something in the present that we would like to change – usually something that we find annoying.

我們使用wish + would談論我們想改變的過去的事——通常時候我們發現很懊惱的事情。

•I wish you wouldn’t borrow my clothes without asking.•I wish it would rain. The garden really needs some water.
•I wish you’d give up smoking. it’s really bad for you.

NB We can only use wish + would to talk about things we can’t change.

注：我們只能用wish + would談論我們不能改變的事。

•So I wish I wouldn’t eat so much chocolate is not possible although we can say I wish I didn’t eat so much chocolate.