B2 wish and if only

B2 GRAMMAR: WISH AND IF ONLY

The House On Chapel Lane

PICTURE

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"We're allowed one regret each, out loud, and then only wishes about the living."

wish + past simple · wish + would / wouldn't · wish + past perfect · if only

Listening

Speaking

A · LEAD-IN

Finish these honestly

Tell your partner.

1. A small thing that regularly annoys me is...

2. One thing I'd change about my daily life is...

3. Something I'd do differently if I could go back is...

4. Which of the three was easiest to answer? Why do you think that is?

PICTURE

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B · BEFORE YOU LISTEN

Clearing out the family house

Two siblings, Bronwen and Idris, are clearing out their late parents' house before it is sold.

LISTEN ONCE AND ANSWER

1. What are they each sorry about?

2. What do they decide to keep?

3. First: what would you keep from a family house - and what would you let go?

PICTURE

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B · TAPESCRIPT

The house on Chapel Lane

"We're keeping the certificate, the china, and the eleven seconds."

BRONWEN Right. Kitchen's done. That leaves the attic, the shed, and whatever is in that wardrobe that neither of us has opened since Tuesday.

IDRIS I wish this house was smaller. Genuinely. Four bedrooms for two people - what were they keeping in them all?

BRONWEN Us, Idris. They were keeping us in them. Look - your football certificates. All of them. Even the one for "participation".

IDRIS ...I wish you hadn't found those.

BRONWEN I'm framing the participation one. Oh - careful with that box, that's the good china. Mind the - Idris. I wish you'd hold the bottom of boxes. You've been carrying them like that all weekend and my heart can't take it.

IDRIS Nothing's broken yet.

BRONWEN Yet. Sit down a minute. I want to say something serious before the skip arrives, and if only we had more time, I'd say it better. I wish we'd visited more. Both of us. Christmas and one week in summer, for years. She used to say the house was too quiet, and I used to think it was just a thing people say.

IDRIS I know. I wish she'd told us properly - actually said, "I'm lonely, come home." But she wouldn't, would she? Not her. She'd say the garden was "getting too big for your father" and hope we could translate.

B · TAPESCRIPT (continued)

The house on Chapel Lane

BRONWEN We could have translated. That's the thing. I could read her perfectly well; I just wish I'd acted on it. Reading it and doing nothing is worse than missing it.

IDRIS ...All right. New rule, before this house makes us cry a third time. The rule is: we're allowed one regret each, out loud, and then we're only allowed wishes about the living. Go.

BRONWEN One regret. If only I'd recorded her voice. I've got two thousand photographs and eleven seconds of video, and in it she's telling me to put the camera away.

IDRIS That is her voice, though. That's the most her sentence there ever was. Fine - mine: I wish I hadn't argued with Dad about the shed that last summer. I won the argument. The shed's still a disgrace. Nobody won anything.

BRONWEN Noted and closed. Now - wishes about the living. I wish you'd call me more than once a month.

IDRIS And I wish you wouldn't answer the phone with "What's wrong?" Nothing's wrong. Sometimes a man just calls his sister.

BRONWEN Deal. ...We're keeping the participation certificate, aren't we?

IDRIS We're keeping the certificate, the china, and the eleven seconds. The skip can have the rest.

C · COMPREHENSION

Listen again. Bronwen (B), Idris (I), or both (2)?

1. Wishes the house were smaller.

2. Is nervous about how the boxes are being carried.

3. Regrets not visiting more often.

4. Wishes their mother had spoken directly about being lonely.

5. Regrets a specific argument.

6. Wants the phone answered differently in future.

D · GRAMMAR FOCUS

Wishing about now, and wishing people would change

a) I wish this house was smaller.

b) I wish you'd hold the bottom of boxes.

c) I wish you wouldn't answer the phone with "What's wrong?"

1. In (a), is Idris talking about the past? Which tense follows wish for a present or future situation we'd like to be different? Is were also possible here?

2. In (b) and (c), what is the feeling - regret, or irritation at someone's repeated behaviour? What structure expresses "I want you to change this habit"?

3. Careful: can you say I wish I would get up earlier about yourself? Why not - and what would you say instead?

D · GRAMMAR FOCUS

Past regrets, and the apostrophe-d trap

a) I wish we'd visited more. / I wish you hadn't found those. / I wish I hadn't argued with Dad.

b) If only I'd recorded her voice. / If only we had more time.

c) I wish she'd told us properly. vs I wish you'd hold the bottom of boxes.

1. In (a), what tense follows wish for past regrets? Untangle the contraction: in I wish we'd visited, is 'd = would or had? How do you know?

2. What does if only add compared with I wish? In (b), one is a past regret and one is a present wish - which tense marks each?

3. *The 'd trap, (c): both sentences contain 'd, but one is had and one is would*. What in the sentence tells you which is which? (Hint: what verb form follows?)

D · THE RULES

Complete the rules

Complete the rules with one word in each gap.

• wish + past ______: present or future situations we'd like to be different (was / were both possible with I / he / she / it).

• wish + would(n't): things - or people - we want to ______ or stop, because they annoy us. Never about yourself.

• wish + past ______: past regrets.

• If only takes the same structures, with ______ feeling.

CAREFUL

'd + past participle = had (I wish she'd told us = a past regret). 'd + bare infinitive = would (I wish you'd hold the box = please change this habit).

E · CONTROLLED PRACTICE

Rewrite using wish or if only.

1. I'd like to speak better Spanish. -> I wish ______.

2. It annoys me that you leave lights on in every room. -> I wish ______.

3. I regret selling my grandfather's watch. -> I wish ______.

4. My neighbour plays the drums at midnight, which drives me mad. -> I wish ______.

5. She regrets not saying goodbye properly. (strong regret) -> If only ______.

6. I'm sorry I can't come to the reunion. -> I wish ______.

7. It's a pity he didn't keep the shop. -> He wishes ______, I'm sure.

8. Stop answering for me at dinner parties! (to your partner, politely-ish) -> I wish ______.

F · FREER PRACTICE

One regret, then the living

Play the siblings' game in pairs.

• Each person shares one genuine past regret: I wish I had... / If only I hadn't...

• Then the rule changes: from now on you may only make wishes about the present and about other people - I wish my flatmate would..., I wish it didn't...

• Finish with one wish for your partner, made kindly. Report the best-phrased wish you heard - not the juiciest secret.

PICTURE

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TEACHER'S REFERENCE · HIDE OR DELETE BEFORE CLASS

Answer key

B GIST Both regret not visiting more. Idris regrets a final argument with their father; Bronwen regrets never recording their mother's voice. They keep the participation certificate, the china, and the eleven seconds of video.

C 1 I · 2 B · 3 2 (both) · 4 I · 5 I · 6 I (about "What's wrong?"; Bronwen wants more calls - accept 2 with justification).

D PART 1 1 No - a present situation; past simple; yes, were is also possible (I wish this house were smaller). 2 Irritation at repeated behaviour; wish + would(n't). 3 No - never I wish I would. About yourself use I wish I got up earlier (past simple) or I wish I could...

D PART 2 4 Past perfect; 'd = had, because a past participle follows (visited). 5 If only is stronger and more emotional; if only + past perfect = past regret, + past simple = present wish. 6 The following verb form: 'd + past participle = had; 'd + bare infinitive = would.

RULES simple · change · perfect · stronger.

E MODEL ANSWERS 1 I wish I spoke better Spanish. · 2 I wish you wouldn't leave lights on in every room. · 3 I wish I hadn't sold my grandfather's watch. · 4 I wish my neighbour wouldn't play the drums at midnight. · 5 If only she had said goodbye properly. · 6 I wish I could come to the reunion. · 7 He wishes he had kept the shop. · 8 I wish you wouldn't answer for me at dinner parties.