English grammar quiz
Quiz: I wish and if only
I wish I know or I wish I knew? Hadn’t eaten or didn’t eat? Check how you use I wish: 12 questions with every answer explained.
- 12 questions
- Level B1–B2
- Every answer explained
- No sign-up
Quiz: I wish and if only
Choose the right option — you’ll instantly see if you got it and why. Your score comes after the last question.
Question 1.
I wish I (blank) the answer. I really don’t know.
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A regret about the present: wish + past simple, I wish I knew.
Question 2.
I wish I (blank) so much last night. I feel terrible.
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A regret about the past (last night): wish + past perfect, I wish I hadn’t eaten.
Question 3.
I wish you (blank) talking during the film! It’s so annoying.
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Someone’s behaviour annoys us and we want them to change it: wish + would.
Question 4.
I wish I (blank) taller.
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Present wish with to be: were (was is informal). We don’t use would about ourselves.
Question 5.
I wish I (blank) drive. I have to take the bus everywhere.
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A wish about ability: wish + could.
Question 6.
If only I (blank) to your advice! Now it’s too late.
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If only works like I wish, but stronger. About the past (it’s too late): past perfect, had listened.
Question 7.
I wish it (blank) raining. I want to go out.
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We want the situation to change: wish + would, I wish it would stop raining.
Question 8.
I hope you (blank) the exam tomorrow. Good luck!
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Hope is about something real and possible, so no backshift: I hope you pass. Only wish shifts the tense.
Question 9.
She wishes she (blank) in a big city, not in a village.
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A regret about the present (she lives in a village): wish + past simple, lived.
Question 10.
I wish I (blank) that email yesterday.
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Yesterday is the past: wish + past perfect, hadn’t sent.
Question 11.
I wish I (blank) more free time these days.
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These days is the present: wish + past simple, had. Had had would be about the past.
Question 12.
We (blank) you a happy birthday!
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Good wishes: wish + person + noun, We wish you a happy birthday.
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Take the level testI wish: the rule
After wish the tense moves one step back: past simple for the present, past perfect for the past.
About the present
wish + past simple (were with to be), or could for ability.
I wish I had a car.
I don’t have one
I wish I could sing.
I can’t
About the past
wish + past perfect: regrets about things that can’t be changed.
I wish I had studied harder.
I didn’t
If only we hadn’t missed the train!
we missed it
Wish + would, and hope
Would is for other people’s behaviour or a situation we want to change. Hope is for real possibilities, with no backshift.
I wish you would listen to me.
you don’t
I hope you pass the exam.
a real possibility
Typical mistakes
Things learners of English often say. On the left — what to avoid, on the right — the correct version.
Not this:
I wish I know the answer.This: I wish I knew the answer.
Present wish: past simple.
Not this:
I wish I didn’t say that yesterday.This: I wish I hadn’t said that yesterday.
Past regret: past perfect.
Not this:
I wish I would be rich.This: I wish I were rich.
Would isn’t used about yourself.
Not this:
I wish you pass the exam.This: I hope you pass the exam.
A real hope: hope.
FAQ
Didn’t find your answer? Send us a request — we’ll tell you everything.
How do you use I wish?
Present: wish + past simple (I wish I had time). Past: wish + past perfect (I wish I had known). Annoying behaviour: wish + would. Ability: wish + could.
I wish I was or I wish I were?
Both are correct; were is more formal and the safer choice in exams.
What level is this quiz?
B1–B2. The logic is the same as in conditionals, so try the conditionals quiz too.
More grammar quizzes
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There is / there are
There is or there are: singular, plural, questions and the past.
- A1–A2
Present Simple vs Present Continuous
I work or I’m working: habits and facts vs what’s happening right now.
- A1–B1
Articles a, an, the
A, an, the or no article: from a / an to countries, rivers and mountains.
- A1–A2
Much, many, a lot of
Much or many, a few or a little: countable and uncountable nouns.
- A1–A2
Prepositions in, on, at
In May, on Monday, at 5 o’clock: prepositions of time and place.
- A1–A2
Comparatives and superlatives
Bigger, the biggest, more interesting: rules and exceptions.
- A1–A2
Question forms
Do / does / did, word order, subject questions and question tags.
- A2–B1
Present Perfect vs Past Simple
I have seen or I saw: experience and results vs the finished past.
- A2–B1
Will vs going to
A decision now or an earlier plan: the future with will and going to.
- A2–B2
Modal verbs
Can, must, should, might: obligation, advice, possibility, deduction.
- A2–B1
Present tenses
All four: Present Simple, Continuous, Perfect and Perfect Continuous in one quiz.
- A2–B2
Past tenses
Past Simple, Continuous, Perfect and Perfect Continuous: what happened, what was going on, what came first.
- A2–B2
Future tenses
Will, going to, Present Continuous, Future Continuous and Future Perfect: how to talk about the future.
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Passive voice
Be + past participle in every tense: is made, was built, has been sold.
- B1–B2
Gerund or infinitive
Enjoy doing, want to do, stop doing or stop to do.
- B1–B2
Conditionals
Zero, first, second, third and mixed: if I have, if I had, if I had had.
- B1–B2
Reported speech
She said she was tired: tense changes, said or told, questions.
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