English Grammar

Use: Explanation

Wish and If only can be used:

a) To wish for an ability now or in the future.

I wish I could play the guitar!       

If only I could dance like that!    

I wish I could go to your wedding next week, but I can’t.

If only I could see my grandmother more often, but I can’t.

b) To wish that something could be true at the moment.

I wish I had long hair!      If only I were taller!

c) To wish that something was happening at the moment.

I wish I was lying on the beach right now!           If only I was lying on the beach right now!

d) To wish that something kept happening again and again, or to wish it could stop happening.

I wish you wouldn’t shout so loudly.       If only he wouldn’t shout so loudly.

e) To wish that something in the past had happened in a different way.

I wish I had studied for my exam!             If only I hadn’t argued with him!