hi my name is rebecca from engvid calm
in life as much as we try we don't
always do the right thing right
sometimes we do something and wish
afterwards that we hadn't done it and
sometimes we don't do something and wish
afterwards that we had done it well in
English we have some expressions to
express this kind of situation and these
kind of feelings that we have when we do
or don't do something all right
then this lesson is focused on that so
what we're basically talking about in
this lesson is expressing regret regret
is when we feel somewhat unhappy and
uncomfortable with something that we did
or didn't do so let's get started so the
expression you can use to talk about
something that you didn't do that you
wish you had done is I wish I had now
you can use this expression to talk
about personal situations or social
situations or business situations okay
so you can use it in a professional
context as well so these are things that
you wish you had done that you didn't do
and then on the other side we'll come to
the other part of the equation so for
example you could say I wish I had
studied harder for my test or I wish I
had bought the house last year when it
was so much cheaper okay so these are
some examples in the personal realm you
could say in the social situation I
wished I had called I wish I had called
her last week I wish I had gone to the
concert okay this means you didn't go to
the concert and you're saying you heard
it was really good I wish I had gone to
the concert in a professional context
you might say I wish I had quoted a
better price I wish I had booked the
meeting room earlier
okay so here you have some examples now
you do see another expression down here
instead of saying
I wish I had Plus whatever you need to
say you could also use the expression if
only I had for example if only I had
booked the conference room earlier if
only I had quoted a better price okay so
you get the idea on this side now we
come to this side this is when you did
something and you shouldn't have done it
and you wish that you had not done it so
then you could say I wish I hadn't eaten
so much I was really trying to lose
weight I'm supposed to be on a diet
why did I eat so much I wish I hadn't
eaten so much or I wish I hadn't waited
till now to call her okay
another example I wish I hadn't trusted
him or her I wish I hadn't invited them
or in a professional situation I wish I
hadn't agreed to their proposal I wish I
hadn't paid the contractor already or I
wish I hadn't paid the contractor in
advance okay and again another way of
expressing the same thing is to say if
only I hadn't paid the contractor in
advance we could have found another
contractor if only I hadn't agreed to
their proposal I could have considered
your offer okay so you see that you can
use I wish I had I wish I hadn't or you
can use if only I had or if only I had
it okay and all of these are used to
express regret for something you did or
something you didn't do and it happens
to all of us so now you know how to
express it okay so if you'd like to do a
quiz on this subject please go to our
website wwlp.com that way you'll have a
chance to really master what we've
studied here and also subscribe to my
youtube channel be happy to see you
again bye for now