I wish ... / If only ...

Thomson & Martinet PEG 153 wish + subject + past, past perfect or
conditional PEG 300-1
Rewrite the following using a wish construction (phrases in brackets should
be omitted).
1 I'm sorry I haven't got a washing machine.
2 I'm sorry I don't live near my work.
3 I'm sorry our garden doesn't get any sun.
4 I'm sorry I called him a liar.
5 I'm sorry I don't know Finnish.
6 I'm sorry I didn't book a seat.
7 I'm sorry I haven't got a car.
8 I'm sorry I can't drive.
9 I'd like Tom to drive more slowly (but I haven't any great hopes of this).
10 I'd like you to keep quiet. ( You 're making so much noise that I can't think.)
11 I'm sorry we accepted the invitation.
12 I'm sorry that theatre tickets cost so much.
13 It's a pity that shops here shut on Saturday afternoon.
14 It's a pity he didn't work harder during the term.
15 I'm sorry you didn't see it.
16 It's a pity you are going tonight.
17 It's a pity I haven't got a work permit.
18 I would like it to stop raining (but I'm not very hopeful).
19 I'd like you to wait for me (even though you are ready to start now).
20 I'm sorry I didn't bring a map.
21 I'm sorry I ever came to this country.
22 I'm sorry I left my last job.
23 I'm sorry I didn't stay in my last job.
24 I'd like him to cut his hair (but I don't suppose he will).
25 I'd like him to stop smoking in bed (but I haven't any great hopes).
26 I'm sorry he goes to bed so late.
27 Motorist in fog: It's a pity we don't know where we are.
28 It's a pity we haven't a torch.
29 I'm sorry I didn't know you were coming.
30 I'm sorry you told Jack.
31 I'm sorry I didn't ask the fishmonger to open these oysters.
32 I'm sorry I can't swim.
33 I'm sorry you aren't coming with us.
34 I'm sorry you aren't going to a job where you could use your English.
35 It's a pity you didn't ask him how to get there.
36 I would like every country to stop killing whales (but haw no real hope of this).

KEY Exercise 153 (All the answers begin I wish; the words I wish will therefore not be
given.)
1 I had a washing machine
2 I lived nearer my work
3 our garden got some sun
4 I hadn't called him a liar
5 I knew Finnish
6 I had booked a seat
7 I had a car
81 could drive
9 Tom would drive more slowly/Tom drove
10 you would keep quiet
11 we hadn't accepted
12 theatre tickets didn't cost
13 shops here didn't shut
14 he had worked
15 you had seen it
16 you weren't going
17 I had a permit
18 it would stop
19 you would wait
20 I had brought a map
21 I had never come
22 I hadn't left
23 I had stayed
24 he would cut
25 he would stop
26 he went to bed earlier/didn't go so late
27 we knew where we were
28 we had
29 I had known
30 you hadn't told
31 I had asked
32 I could swim
33 you were coming
34 you were going to a job
35 you had asked him
36 every country would stop