Grammar: ✨ Grammar Essentials: 🧩 Parts of Speech & 🏗️ Sentence Structure (Advanced) (B2) - Lesson 8: Wishes & Regrets about the Past (I wish/If only + Past Perfect)

Grammar: Unreal Past

B2 Lesson 8: Wishes & Regrets about the Past

What you will learn: By the end of this lesson, you will be able to use "I wish" and "If only" with the Past Perfect tense to express regrets about the past.

Why It Matters: Reality vs. Regret

We use this special grammar structure to talk about a past event that we now want to be different. It contrasts what really happened with what we wish had happened.

🗓️ Reality (What Happened)

I didn't study for the test.

😔 Regret (What I Want to Change)

I wish I had studied for the test.

The Grammar Rule 📖

The structure for expressing a wish or regret about the past always uses the Past Perfect (had + past participle).

Formula for Past Regrets

I wish / If only + Subject + had/hadn't + Past Participle

---

Reality (Past): I ate too much spicy food.

Regret: "If only I hadn't eaten so much spicy food."

💡 Pro Tips

"I wish" vs. "If only": These phrases have the same meaning and grammar, but "If only" is generally more emphatic or dramatic. It shows a very strong feeling of regret.

"I missed the bus by one minute! If only I had left my house earlier!"

Connection to Conditionals: This structure is like the 'if' clause of a Third Conditional, but without the result clause. The sad result is implied by our feeling of regret.

Practice Your Grammar 🎯

Exercise: Express the Regret

Complete the sentences with the correct Past Perfect form of the verb in brackets.

1. I missed the beginning of the movie. I wish I _______ (arrive) on time.
   → had arrived
2. He failed his driving test. He wishes he _______ (practice) more.
   → had practiced
3. If only I _______ (not eat) that street food. I feel sick now.
   → hadn't eaten
4. She lost her phone. She wishes she _______ (be) more careful with it.
   → had been

Your Grammar Mission ⭐

Write About Your Past Wishes

Write a full sentence expressing a regret for each situation.

1. Think about something you didn't do last weekend, but now you feel bad about it (e.g., you didn't call your parents).
   Example: I wish I had called my parents last weekend.
2. Think about a mistake you made yesterday (e.g., you spent too much money).
   Example: If only I hadn't spent so much money at the market yesterday.

Key Vocabulary

• Regret (Noun) | ការសោកស្តាយ
  A feeling of sadness about something you did or did not do in the past.
• Wish (Noun) | បំណងប្រាថ្នា
  A desire or hope for something to happen.
• Past Perfect (Tense) | អតីតកាលបរិបូណ៌
  A tense used for actions completed before another past action (had + past participle).
• Emphatic (Adjective) | ដែលសង្កត់ធ្ងន់
  Giving special importance or force to something.
• Implied (Adjective) | ដែលបង្កប់ន័យ
  Suggested but not directly expressed.