| Let's look at the sentence pattern. |
| Do you remember the focus sentence from the dialogue? |
| I wish you had checked with me first. I was planning to have lunch with a friend tomorrow. |
| This sentence follows the pattern here. |
| This pattern is the structure that all of our examples will follow. |
| I wish + past perfect |
| Let’s go part by part. |
| “I wish” introduces the feeling of regret. It sets up the idea that the speaker is thinking about a situation in the past that cannot be changed. |
| The past perfect is formed with “had” + past participle. It shows that the action happened before another event in the past and cannot be changed. |
| Let’s see how the line from the dialogue follows this pattern. |
| I wish you had checked with me first. |
| "I wish" introduces the regret, and "you had checked" is in the past perfect. This shows that the speaker is disappointed that the listener did not confirm something earlier. |
| There is a similar pattern, |
| "If only" + past perfect. |
| For example: If only I had known. |
| Like “I wish,” this structure expresses regret about something in the past. |
| Compared to “I wish,” “if only” often sounds more emotional or dramatic. |
| Now let's look at some speaking examples. |
| I wish that client hadn’t complained to the manager. |
| Can you see how the pattern applies here? |
| This sentence uses “I wish” followed by the past perfect verb phrase “hadn’t complained.” It expresses regret about a specific action that already happened in the past. The speaker wishes the client’s complaint had not occurred. |
| Next… |
| If only I’d sent that invoice on time. |
| This uses the “If only” structure followed by “I’d sent”—a contraction of “I had sent,” which is past perfect. It expresses strong regret that the speaker did not send the invoice when they should have. The sentence implies a negative consequence from that mistake. |
| Let’s try one more, |
| I wish I hadn’t scheduled that lunch. |
| Here, “I wish” is followed by “hadn’t scheduled,” again using the past perfect. The sentence shows that the speaker regrets setting up the lunch—probably because of how it turned out. |
| Another one. |
| I wish someone had shown me the copy paper. |
| This sentence starts with “I wish” and follows with the past perfect verb phrase “had shown.” The speaker is expressing regret that no one showed them where the copy paper was, possibly because it caused confusion or delay. |
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