Reelang

English grammar

Wishes and What Might Be

These forms use past words to talk about wishes and things that are not real. People use them all the time. Small: "I wish you'd listen." Big: "I wish I had studied harder." Nice: "I'd rather you didn't."

Class Wishes and What Might Be

These are the forms taught in English classes all over the world. We show them with real videos, not made-up ones.

I Wish - About Now

I wish + past simple (for a present situation)

Use this to talk about things you want to be different right now. In real talk, "I wish I was" is just as common as "I wish I were." Both are fine, but books only teach "were."

I Wish - About the Past

I wish + past perfect (for a past situation)

Use this for something that did or did not happen in the past.

Would Rather

I'd rather + base verb (same subject), or I'd rather + subject + past simple (different subject)

Use this to say what you want to do. For yourself, say "I'd rather" and a verb: "I'd rather stay home." "I'd rather not talk about it." For someone else, say "I'd rather" and past simple: "I'd rather you didn't smoke."

Suppose / Imagine

Suppose / Imagine + past simple (for hypothetical framing)

This asks someone to think about something that is not real. It uses past tense, like conditionals. "Suppose you won the lottery, what would you do?" "Imagine she found out." "Supposing he didn't come?"