If and wish sentences (past)

UNIT 36 If and wish sentences (past)

A.   Study this example situation:

Last month Ann was sick. Tom didn't know this, and he didn't go to see her. They met again Ann got better. Tom said:

If I had known that you were sick, I would have gone to see you.

The real situation was that Tom didn't know Ann was sick. So he says If I had known . . . When you are talking about the past, you use the past perfect ( I had known/I had been/I had done, etc.) after if.

• If I had seen you when you passed me in the street, I would have said hello. (but I didn't see you)

• I would have gone out if I hadn't been so tired. (but I was too tired)

• If he had been looking where he was going, he wouldn't have walked into the wall. (but he wasn't looking)

Do not use would (have) in the if part of the sentence:

• If I had seen you, I would have said hello. (not if I would have seen)

Both would and had can be shortened to 'd

• If I'd seen (= had seen) you, I'd have said (= would have said) hello.                         

B.   Use the past perfect (I had done) after wish when you say that you regret something that happened or didn't happen in the past:

• I wish I had known that Ann was sick. I would have gone to see her. ( I didn't know that she was sick.)

• I feel sick. I wish I hadn't eaten so much. (I ate too much.)

• Do you wish you had studied science instead of languages? (You didn't study science.)

• The weather was terrible. I wish it had been warmer. (It wasn't warm.)

You cannot use would have after wish:

• I wish it had been warmer. (not would have been)

C.   would have (done) is the past form of would (do):

• If I had gone to the party last night, I would be tired now. (I am not tired now-present.)

• If I had gone to the party last night, I would have seen Ann. (I didn't see Ann-past.)

Might have and could have are possible instead of would have:

If we'd played better, we might have won. (= perhaps we would have won)
We could have gone out if the weather hadn't been so bad. (= we would have been able to go out)