Hi and welcome back to Love English I'm Leila and today I want to help you
understand two very important words in the English language HOPE and WISH. now
these two words are commonly confused for non-native speakers first when it
comes to their meaning although they are actually quite similar they're also very
different in how we use them and the meaning that they carry so today we'll
be looking at both the meaning and the grammar that we would use with these two
words now before we get started don't forget to click that subscribe button
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Twitter right let me dive in hope and wish which
one to use when what's the difference in the meaning what's similar in meaning
and what grammar structures do we use after them let's get started
right meaning in essence they are both referring to dreams desires something
you want in the future the difference in use is the likelihood
of something happening using the verb hope I hope refers to something that is
doable possible is within your control it's quite probable that this thing
could happen I hope I pass my exam now which is actually something that's more
unlikely to happen I wish I could win the lottery it's unlikely you're going
to win the lottery it's not really within your control
there's a certain amount of luck involved in winning the lottery so what
is the probability of your desire your want your dream to come true
hope it's quite possible whereas wish it's very unlikely so a common mistake
would of course be I wish I pass my exam well you don't need to wish you should
hope because it's actually within your power to pass your exam you just need to
study a little bit more I hope I win the lottery again it sounds like it's quite
realistic when an actual fact your chances of winning the lottery are
pretty small so you would say I wish I could I wish I could now here's where we
start to look at the grammar so hope hope is used to talk about future
situations events or actions that are positive or good or you want them to be
positive or good the first example I gave you I hope I pass my exam I hope my
team wins the football match I really hope we see each other again in this
case pay attention to the grammar we would use hope with the present simple
I hope my team wins I hope I pass I hope I see you again now you can also find a
hope paired with the past simple in this case there is a slight difference in the
situation in the meaning when we use hope with the past simple we're
referring to something that has recently happened but that's going to be decided
in the near future so for example I hope I got the job I hope I got the job in
this case you've just come out of the interview and you're waiting for the
decision to be made I hope I passed my exam I hope I passed my exam in this
case you've taken in the exam and you are waiting for the results so pay
attention to the difference in meaning there I hope I pass you haven't taken
the exam yet I hope I passed you've taken the exam and you're waiting for
the results of course you can also use hope in the present continuous I hope
you're enjoying the lesson you're actually referring to now what's
happening I hope you're enjoying your food someone's eating their food and
their we're simply talking about the present action and that you hope your
desire is that they're enjoying the food and of course the lesson if I say I hope
you enjoyed which I will at the end of this lesson then I'm talking about the
past I hope you enjoyed this lesson if I talk about the future I hope you enjoy
tomorrow's lesson then obviously I'm referring to that situation in the
future so just pay attention whether you use the past simple the present simple
or indeed the present continuous I hope you're having fun so wish wish is used
to refer to something is very unlikely to happen it could but
it's unlikely it may even be impossible to happen hold on I'm gonna explain why
in just a second so very commonly we actually use wish with past perfect in
this case we are referring to a regret something that happened in the past that
we wish had been different I wish I hadn't said I didn't like her food she
seemed to really upset oh I wish I had studied harder I would have passed the
exam any guesses what conditioner that is second or third first or second third
conditional so in this case you're using wish with third conditional to express
regret so for more information on third conditional you can click the link above
and watch a rather retro but very informative lesson on third conditional
now if you put wish with the past simple you're not talking about the past you're
actually talking about the present I wish I had better English speaking
skills I wish I could fly I wish I didn't have this big spot on my head in
this case we're expressing an unreal present desire we are talking about now
but it's not true it's not real and it's not possible if you said I wish I were a
cat you're talking about now you're saying oh if only I were a cat I'd like
to be a cat right now if you said I wish I had a bigger house you're referring to
the house that you have now you're saying basically it's too small and you
would like it to be bigger but it's not and it can't be so it is an unreal
present desire I wish I didn't have a big test tomorrow well you do so get
over it I wish I were taller now pay attention I wish I were not I wish I was
it follows the same rule as second conditional I wish you were more
beautiful I wish I were more intelligent all of these things are expressing now
you want things to be different in the present now of course sometimes this can
get very confusing because we can also express a desire for someone else I wish
you happiness I wish you joy this means I want this for you
this is a desire expressing for somebody else but
you're using wish with a noun I wish you luck with your exam this actually sounds
a little bit more formal but in fact we do still use this quite commonly in
English I wish you the best I wish you peace and happiness again think about
the meaning this is not within my control I can have positive desires
intentions towards somebody but I can't make them happy I can't give them joy I
can just wish it for them so let's test your knowledge I want to know what the
difference is between these two sentences I hope I can improve my
English I hope I can improve my English I wish I could improve my English I wish
I could improve my English comment below and let me know what do you think the
difference is between those two sentences and of course I would love you
to share some of your hopes and wishes some of your desires for the future what
are your hopes when it comes to learning English what do you wish were different
right now do you have any regrets do you wish you had done something differently
in the past comment below and let me know use those too confusing verbs and
show me that you can use them perfectly in the correct context and with the
correct grammar so I hope you enjoyed that lesson and I wish you a lovely day
thank you so much for watching bye