How do you make a wish in English with wish or if only?

Backshift the tense: a present situation you want to be different takes the past simple (I wish the loft conversion had a skylight), and a past you cannot change takes the past perfect (If only I had booked the last coble). If only is a stronger wish with the same tense rules, and you should not keep a present form after wish when you mean a counterfactual.

What is the difference between wish and hope?

Hope treats the idea as possible and keeps ordinary tenses: I hope the last coble still has a seat. Wish treats the idea as not the case and backshifts: I wish the last coble still had a seat. If you have not given up, you are hoping. If you are picturing a different reality, you are wishing.

When do I use wish plus would?

When you want someone to change a habit, or when something refuses to happen: I wish you would put the lid back on the kiln. I wish the mill race would quieten after midnight. Do not use would for a state about your own life (I wish I lived nearer, not I wish I would live nearer). Ability takes could: I wish I could sight-read the tuba part.

Is it I wish I was or I wish I were?

Were is the careful form and the one to write in a test: I wish I were better at the tuba. Was is common in everyday speech: I wish I was. Both are understood. After if only the same choice appears: If only it were quieter.

Is if only a conditional?

It uses the same backshifted tenses as unreal conditionals, but it is a wish, not an if X, Y sentence. If only I had booked the coble stands on its own; there is no separate result clause. A third conditional would add one: If I had booked the coble, we would have reached Staithes before dusk. That full pattern is on the third conditional page.

English grammar · Intermediate

Wishes in English: Wish, If Only, Hope, and Wish + Would

Written by Eleanor Whitfield, Lead English Curriculum Editor · Reviewed September 2026

Wish and if only imagine a different present or a different past. For a present situation you want to be otherwise, they take a past simple: I wish the loft conversion had a skylight. For a past you cannot change, they take a past perfect: If only I had booked the last coble. Wish plus would complains about an annoying habit or asks for a change. Hope is different: it looks at a possible future, not a counterfactual one. Sentence patterns such as it's time and would rather sit on a neighbouring page.

I wish the loft conversion had a skylight.

a present wish: wish plus past simple about a current situation

What it is

A wish in this grammar is not a greeting (best wishes) and not a future plan. It is a counterfactual: you picture a present or a past that is not the case. English marks that unreality by shifting the tense back. A present problem takes a past simple after wish or if only (I wish I lived in Reykjavik). A past regret takes a past perfect (If only I had packed the tuba). The shift is the same logic as a second or third conditional, applied to a wish rather than to an if. Hope does not make that shift, because hope still treats the idea as possible.

I wish the loft conversion had a skylight. (It does not; present counterfactual.) If only I had booked the last coble. (I did not; past counterfactual.) I hope the last coble still has a seat. (It might; hope, not wish.)

How to spot it

Look for wish or if only followed by a clause whose tense is one step back from the time you mean. Present meaning, past form. Past meaning, past perfect form. If the next verb is would, you are in the complaint or request use, not the state use.

I wish the loft conversion had a skylight. (present situation, past simple after wish)
If only I had booked the last coble to Staithes. (past regret, past perfect after if only)
I wish you would put the lid back on the kiln. (wish + would: an annoying habit)
I hope the glaze sets before we open the kiln. (hope + present: a possible future, not a wish)

If only is a stronger, often more emotional, version of I wish. The tense rules are the same. If only is not followed by would as often as wish is; it prefers states and past regrets.

Wishes: Wish and If Only Quick Reference

Wish and if only: which form follows

What you mean	Form after wish / if only	Example
Present situation you want to change	past simple (or past continuous)	I wish the loft had a skylight.
Present, verb be (formal)	were for every subject	I wish I were better at the tuba.
Past you cannot change	past perfect	If only I had booked the coble.
Annoying habit, or a change you want from someone	would + infinitive	I wish you would put the lid back.
A possible future (not a wish)	hope + present or will	I hope the coble still has a seat.

Common Wishes: Wish and If Only Examples in English

Wishes grouped by the time they look at, which is what chooses the tense after wish and if only:

Present Wishes (Past Simple)

I wish the loft conversion had a skylight.: it does not have one now
If only Harun knew the Handley warp by heart.: he does not know it now
I wish I lived within walking distance of Reykjavik harbour.: not true of the speaker now
She wishes the mill race were quieter in March.: were for be, every subject

The past simple here does not mean past time. It means not true now. I wish I have a skylight is the error that forgets the backshift.

Past Wishes (Past Perfect)

If only I had booked the last coble to Staithes.: the booking did not happen; regret
I wish Nia had packed the tuba in the hold, not the cab.: she packed it in the cab
He wishes he had glazed the tiles before the freeze.: he did not glaze them in time
If only we had not opened the kiln at two in the morning.: negative past perfect: we did open it

This is the same tense pairing as a third conditional, without the if-result structure. The past cannot be changed, so the wish is a regret, a relief, or a criticism.

Wish versus Hope

I hope the last coble still has a seat.: possible: we may yet get on
I wish the last coble still had a seat.: counterfactual: we believe it does not
I hope the glaze sets before Friday's firing.: a possible future, present after hope
I wish the glaze would set before Friday's firing.: impatience: it is not setting, would for a change

Hope keeps the tense of reality. Wish backshifts. If you can still imagine the thing happening, hope is the verb; if you have already decided it is not the case, wish is the verb.

How Wish and If Only Work

Backshift the tense to mark unreality, then choose would only when you want a change of behaviour.

Present Meaning, Past Form

To wish a current situation were different, put the clause into the past simple: I wish the loft had a skylight, If only I knew the warp. The verb be often takes were with every subject (I wish I were, she wishes it were), especially in careful or formal English. Was is common in speech (I wish I was). Both are heard; were is the form to write in a test.

I wish I were better at the tuba.

were after wish, present meaning, every subject

Present wish = past simple (were for be).

Past Meaning, Past Perfect Form

To wish a finished event had gone otherwise, put the clause into the past perfect: If only I had booked the coble, I wish she had packed the tuba in the hold. The negative is had not (hadn't): If only we had not opened the kiln. This is regret about a closed past, the same unreality a third conditional uses in its if-clause.

If only I had booked the last coble to Staithes.

past perfect: the booking did not happen

Past wish = past perfect.

If Only Is a Stronger Wish

If only takes the same tenses as wish and adds emphasis, often with frustration or longing. It can stand as its own sentence (If only I had booked the coble) or lead a longer one. It is less common with would than wish is, and it is not a real conditional: there is no separate result clause of the if X, Y kind. The result is the wish itself.

If only the mill race were quieter in March.

same backshift as wish, stronger feeling

If only = wish, with more feeling.

Hope Does Not Backshift

Hope treats the idea as still possible, so the tense stays with reality: I hope the coble still has a seat (present), I hope Nia packed the tuba (past, unknown to me), I hope the glaze will set (future). Wish plus a present form (I wish the loft has a skylight) is the mix to avoid. If you have not given up on the idea, you are hoping, not wishing.

I hope the last coble still has a seat.

present after hope: the seat may still exist

Hope = possible. Wish = not the case.

Common Mistakes with Wishes: Wish and If Only

Incorrect: I wish the loft conversion has a skylight.

Correct: I wish the loft conversion had a skylight.

A present wish backshifts to the past simple. Has keeps the sentence in reality, which is the hope pattern (I hope it has a skylight), not the wish pattern.

Incorrect: If only I booked the last coble to Staithes.

Correct: If only I had booked the last coble to Staithes.

A wish about a finished past takes the past perfect, not the past simple. The past simple after wish is for present meaning. Booked would mean I want to book it now, which is not the regret this sentence is trying to express.

Incorrect: I wish I would live within walking distance of Reykjavik harbour.

Correct: I wish I lived within walking distance of Reykjavik harbour.

Would after wish is for someone else's behaviour or for a change you cannot will yourself to make. A state about your own life takes the past simple. I wish I would is almost always the wrong frame for a present state.

Incorrect: I hope the loft conversion had a skylight.

Correct: I hope the loft conversion has a skylight. / I wish the loft conversion had a skylight.

Hope plus a past simple is about an unknown past, not a present counterfactual. For a present possibility, keep has. For a present counterfactual, switch the verb to wish and keep had.

Wish Plus Would for Annoying Habits

When the wish is about someone else's behaviour, or about a change you want to happen, would plus a bare infinitive follows wish. This is not the past-habit would, and it is not a present-state wish.

Complaints and requests for change

I wish you would + infinitive criticises a current habit or asks for it to stop or start. The subject of would is usually not I: you cannot easily wish your own will to change this way (I wish I would is rare and sounds odd). If only is less common in this pattern than I wish.

I wish you would put the lid back on the kiln.: a repeated oversight, a request to change
I wish the mill race would quieten after midnight.: impatience with something outside your control
She wishes Harun would stop oiling the loom during lessons.: an annoying habit of someone else's

For a state about yourself, keep the past simple: I wish I lived nearer, not I wish I would live nearer. Would is for behaviour and for things that refuse to happen.

Would not, and wish + could

The negative complaint is wish + would not: I wish you would not leave the vestry key on the harpsichord. Ability you do not have takes could, which is the past of can in this backshift: I wish I could sight-read the tuba part. Could is a present-ability wish, not a past-regret form (that would be I wish I could have, or I wish I had been able to).

I wish you would not leave the vestry key on the harpsichord.: would not + infinitive: stop doing that
I wish I could sight-read the tuba part.: could: a present ability I do not have

I wish I can is the error could prevents. Ability, like other present states, backshifts: can becomes could after wish.

Quick Check: Wishes: Wish and If Only

Put the verb in brackets into the form that wish, if only, or hope requires.

1. I wish the loft conversion ___ (have) a skylight.

Answer: had

present wish: past simple

2. If only I ___ (book) the last coble to Staithes.

Answer: had booked

past regret: past perfect

3. I wish you ___ (put) the lid back on the kiln. (annoying habit)

Answer: would put

wish + would for behaviour

4. I hope the last coble still ___ (have) a seat.

Answer: has

hope: no backshift

5. I wish I ___ (be) better at the tuba.

Answer: were (or was in speech)

be after a present wish: were

Wishes: Wish and If Only FAQs

How do you make a wish in English with wish or if only?: Backshift the tense: a present situation you want to be different takes the past simple (I wish the loft conversion had a skylight), and a past you cannot change takes the past perfect (If only I had booked the last coble). If only is a stronger wish with the same tense rules, and you should not keep a present form after wish when you mean a counterfactual.
What is the difference between wish and hope?: Hope treats the idea as possible and keeps ordinary tenses: I hope the last coble still has a seat. Wish treats the idea as not the case and backshifts: I wish the last coble still had a seat. If you have not given up, you are hoping. If you are picturing a different reality, you are wishing.
When do I use wish plus would?: When you want someone to change a habit, or when something refuses to happen: I wish you would put the lid back on the kiln. I wish the mill race would quieten after midnight. Do not use would for a state about your own life (I wish I lived nearer, not I wish I would live nearer). Ability takes could: I wish I could sight-read the tuba part.
Is it I wish I was or I wish I were?: Were is the careful form and the one to write in a test: I wish I were better at the tuba. Was is common in everyday speech: I wish I was. Both are understood. After if only the same choice appears: If only it were quieter.
Is if only a conditional?: It uses the same backshifted tenses as unreal conditionals, but it is a wish, not an if X, Y sentence. If only I had booked the coble stands on its own; there is no separate result clause. A third conditional would add one: If I had booked the coble, we would have reached Staithes before dusk. That full pattern is on the third conditional page.