C1 Trapped in the Cotswolds - Unreal Uses of Past Tenses

C1 GRAMMAR · UNREAL PAST TENSES

Trapped in the Cotswolds

PICTURE

(you add this)

A design career in Lisbon. A failing shop, a father who won't stay away, a partner who has stopped waiting.

wish / if only · wish + would · were for was · would rather · it's (high) time

Reading

Speaking

A · LEAD-IN

No regrets?

"Regret is a wasted emotion - the past can't hear you, so stop talking to it."

PICTURE

(you add this)

Discuss with a partner.

B · BEFORE YOU READ

Dear Marion...

You're going to read a problem page from a weekend magazine: one reader's letter, and the columnist Marion's reply.

READ FOR

PICTURE

1. What did the writer trade for what - and when?

2. Who has run out of patience, and who can't stay away?

3. Does Marion actually tell the writer to leave? What does she say instead?

(you add this)

B · READING

Trapped in the Cotswolds (a rural part of England)

The weekend problem page

Dear Marion,

Five years ago I made the tidiest mistake of my life. I was a designer in Lisbon - good clients, a tiny flat with a balcony - and when my father retired, I came home to run the family stationery shop. It felt noble at the time. Now I wish I'd thought about it for longer than a weekend, and I wish I'd kept the flat, if nothing else.

The shop is failing, slowly and politely. Some mornings I stand at the till and wish I were back at my old desk with proper work to do. I'd rather not sound ungrateful - the shop paid for my childhood - but the figures are grim and getting grimmer.

Then there's my father. He "retired", yet he drops in every single day to rearrange the shelves. I wish he'd stay away - or at least ring first. And I do wish he wouldn't tell customers I've made the place "modern", in that tone.

My partner, Sam, has been patient for five years and has recently stopped. Last night she said, "If only you'd been this loyal to us," which was unfair, and not entirely wrong.

I don't regret loving my family. I just wish loyalty came with an exit.

- Trapped in the Cotswolds

B · READING (continued)

Trapped in the Cotswolds

Dear Trapped,

If only every reader diagnosed themselves as precisely as you do. You already know what's wrong, so here is the medicine, in order.

First, the shop. It's high time it earned its keep or closed with dignity. Five more polite years will cost you your savings, your nerve and quite possibly Sam.

Second, your father. It's high time you two had the conversation you've been avoiding. He doesn't rearrange the shelves because he doubts you; he'd rather potter about your stockroom than admit he misses the place. Tell him you know that. Kindly. This week.

Third, Sam. I'd rather you didn't treat five years of patience as a renewable resource. And whatever you decide, I'd rather Sam heard it from you than read it in an estate agent's window.

Last, Lisbon. If only you were as loyal to your own talent as you are to your family's shelves. It's time to email your old clients, and it's time to find out whether that door is still open. Not next year. Now.

- Marion

C · COMPREHENSION

Who said it?

Three voices: Trapped, Marion, and Sam (quoted). Who does each line belong to?

1. "I wish I'd thought about it for longer than a weekend."

2. "I do wish he wouldn't tell customers I've made the place 'modern', in that tone."

3. "Some mornings I stand at the till and wish I were back at my old desk."

4. "If only you'd been this loyal to us."

5. "It's high time you two had the conversation you've been avoiding."

6. "He'd rather potter about your stockroom than admit he misses the place."

7. "I'd rather you didn't treat five years of patience as a renewable resource."

8. "It's time to email your old clients."

D · GRAMMAR FOCUS

Eight lines, seven jobs

Match each line from the last slide to its job. Two lines share one job.

1. "I wish I'd thought about it..."

2. "I do wish he wouldn't tell customers..."

3. "...wish I were back at my old desk."

4. "If only you'd been this loyal to us."

5. "It's high time you two had..."

6. "He'd rather potter about your stockroom..."

7. "I'd rather you didn't treat..."

8. "It's time to email your old clients."

a) a regret about something now impossible to change

b) a wish for a present situation to be different

c) irritation at someone's repeated behaviour

d) a preference about what another person does

e) a preference about the speaker's own action

f) something overdue - and we say who should act

g) something overdue - no one in particular named

D · GRAMMAR FOCUS

What changes - and what can't?

1. Lines 1 and 3 are both wishes. Why the past perfect in 1 but the past simple in 3?

2. In line 3 the writer says were, not was. If you swap it, what changes - the meaning, or something else?

3. In line 2, why wouldn't rather than doesn't or didn't? And why can nobody say "I wish I wouldn't..."?

4. Lines 5 and 8 both mean "this is overdue". What does naming the subject (you two) force grammatically? What does high add?

D · THE RULES

Unreal past: the machine room

Complete the rules with: were · past simple x2 · would · past perfect · bare infinitive · to-infinitive

• A present or future you'd like different: wish / if only + __________

• A past you regret: wish / if only + __________

• Someone's annoying habit or refusal: wish / if only + person + __________ + verb

• Preference, different subject: would rather + subject + __________ ; same subject: would rather + __________

• Overdue, subject named: it's (high) time + subject + past simple. No subject named: it's time + __________

• After wish / if only, __________ can replace was for all persons.

CAREFUL

'd is two different words: I wish he'd ring first (= would: habit) vs I wish he'd rung first (= had: regret). The past form is compulsory but the meaning is now: It's time we go - It's time we went. I'd rather you don't - I'd rather you didn't. And no wishing about your own willingness: I wish I would worry less - I wish I worried less / could worry less.

E · PRACTICE

Only one way home

Match each beginning to the only ending that truly works.

1. It's high time this shop...

2. I wish the couple upstairs would...

3. If only I'd...

4. I'd rather you...

5. I wish I...

6. It's time to...

7. My grandmother would rather we...

8. I'd rather not...

a) didn't tell anyone about the interview until it's certain.

b) made a profit or made way for something that can.

c) were half as organised as my calendar suggests.

d) know what's living in the office fridge, thanks.

e) visited her without announcing it on the family group chat.

f) read the contract before I signed it, not after.

g) take the tango practice somewhere with carpets.

h) stop pretending the printer will fix itself.

E · PRACTICE

Same message, new machinery

Rewrite each sentence using the bold word - keep the meaning. One item has two defensible answers: find it and be ready to justify both.

1. I regret not learning Portuguese properly while I had the chance. wish

2. My colleague keeps reheating fish in the office microwave, and it drives me mad. wish

3. Please don't mention Lisbon to my father yet - I'm asking you as a favour. rather

4. Someone really needs to repaint that sign - it's been peeling for months. time

5. It's a shame the flat isn't nearer the station. if only

6. My preference is to keep this conversation between ourselves. rather

7. Not asking for help sooner was my biggest mistake. if only

8. It bothers me that I'm not braver about big decisions. wish

F · SPEAKING

The columnist's couch

Phase 1 - in pairs. A presents the dilemma as their own; B is the columnist and advises in full sentences. Then swap roles with dilemma 2.

• Trapped, six months on: "A Lisbon studio has offered me a six-month contract - but the shop's lease has a year left, and Dad has just paid to have the sign repainted."

• Now Dad writes in: "My daughter wants to change everything in my old shop, my allotment bores me senseless, and nobody has asked my advice since March."

• THE COLUMNIST MUST USE: It's (high) time you... · I'd rather you... · If only you'd... · I wish you'd (stop)...

• Phase 2 - interview your partner. What do you wish were different about your daily routine? Whose habit - a person's or a machine's - do you wish would stop? What's your "if only"? Report your partner's most interesting wish to the class.

PICTURE

(you add this)

TEACHER'S REFERENCE · HIDE OR DELETE BEFORE CLASS

Answer key (1)

SLIDE 3 GIST 1 A design career and a flat in Lisbon for the family stationery shop, five years ago. 2 Sam has run out of patience; the father can't stay away. 3 She never says "leave" - she prescribes honesty (shop, father, Sam) and tells the writer to email the old clients and test whether the Lisbon door is still open.

SLIDE 5 WHO SAID IT 1 Trapped · 2 Trapped · 3 Trapped · 4 Sam (quoted in the letter) · 5 Marion · 6 Marion · 7 Marion · 8 Marion

SLIDE 6 SEVEN JOBS regret, impossible to change = 1 and 4 · present situation different = 3 · irritation at repeated behaviour = 2 · preference about another person = 7 · preference about the speaker's own action = 6 · overdue, subject named = 5 · overdue, no subject = 8

SLIDE 7 CONCEPT 1 The past perfect marks a finished, unchangeable past (the decision is made); the past simple marks a present situation that is unreal but not closed. 2 Only register changes - was is fine informally, were is safe in any register. 3 Would targets another person's willingness or repeated refusal; you control your own behaviour, so I wish I wouldn't is impossible - use I wish I didn't / could. 4 A named subject forces the past simple (you two had); with no subject, the to-infinitive (to email). High adds impatience or reproach.

TEACHER'S REFERENCE · HIDE OR DELETE BEFORE CLASS

Answer key (2)

SLIDE 8 RULES past simple · past perfect · would · past simple / bare infinitive · to-infinitive · were

SLIDE 9 MATCHING 1b · 2g · 3f · 4a · 5c · 6h · 7e · 8d

SLIDE 10 TRANSFORMATIONS 1 I wish I'd learned Portuguese properly while I had the chance. 2 I wish my colleague wouldn't keep reheating fish in the office microwave (didn't reheat is defensible - it frames the habit as a state; wouldn't better matches "drives me mad"). 3 I'd rather you didn't mention Lisbon to my father yet. 4 The designed double: It's (high) time someone repainted that sign (named subject, past simple) OR It's time to repaint that sign (no subject, to-infinitive) - both correct; the first carries more reproach. 5 If only the flat were nearer the station (was acceptable). 6 I'd rather keep this conversation between ourselves (same subject, bare infinitive). 7 If only I'd asked for help sooner. 8 I wish I were braver about big decisions (was acceptable).

SLIDES 2 AND 11 Open outcomes - no key; monitor for the target forms and feed the notes slide.