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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

Confused with words

Hello, everyone, my nick is zhouyu.my, there are two words I have problem with and wish to get some clarifications from EnglishForward.

The first word is wish, I know that wish can be used as subjunctive, but wish also has another meaning as want. I am wondering when wish is used as want, can we simply just use present tense to report what a person have said. For examples:

1) (Johnny tells the nurse.)
Johnny: I want my daughter to have my house so I can die in peace. I owe her that much.
(Nurse walks out and meets with Johnny's daughter.)
Nurse: He wishes you to have his house so he can die in peace.
(Is the present tense usage "he can die in peace" correct?)
2) He wishes you to inherit all his properties as his last wish, so you can start building up your business that you have always dreamed of.
(At the time of speaking that person is still alive, the reporter simply report what the wisher wants to give to the wisher's son, can we use present tense in the reported statement?)

I am thinking, if wish is not used in a situation that involves imaginary condition, present tense can always be used, am I right?

The second word I have problem with is would. The word would has multiple meanings, one of its meaning is the characteristic of someone or something, I am wondering in the following examples the word would can be used.

1) You just dumped him, if you go to his house now he would kill you.
(People often use will in this case, but I am just wondering if the word would can be used. Because the speaker explains what the male would do if the females goes to his house. But many grammar exercises would prefer will over would and often both words are give in the same multiple choice question, I am confused why the grammar book prefers will over would because both of them sounds right to me.
2) If you present this ring to Sarah, Jenny would panic.
(Will is the right word to use, can we use would too?)
3) If you add sodium into a flask containing liquid chorine, the whole flask would explode!
(Again, can would be used instead of will?)
4) If you give this present to Mary, he would give you something back.
(I know will is the right choice, but can would be used too?)

I have always confused on Will over Would, because would can be used as present tense modal verb too. When given questions that have both words as selectable, I often go for will by following the book, but deep in my heart I think the word would can be used too because it has the meaning of what would happen when certain conditions are met. Could someone please clarify this for me?
  

Top answer

Anonymous I am thinking, if wish is not used in a situation that involves imaginary condition, present tense can always be used, am I right? Both your "wish" sentences are correct (barring minor quibbles irrelevant to your question). However, people tend not to use "wish" like this in real-life conversation.

  • Anonymous I am thinking, if wish is not used in a situation that involves imaginary condition, present tense can always be used, am I right?
  • Both your "wish" sentences are correct (barring minor quibbles irrelevant to your question).
  • However, people tend not to use "wish" like this in real-life conversation.
  • Sentences like "He wishes you to have his house", while correct English, sound a bit like the speaker is reading from a book.
  • Most people would use "wants" instead.
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4 Answers
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Anonymous
I am thinking, if wish is not used in a situation that involves imaginary condition, present tense can always be used, am I right?

Both your "wish" sentences are correct (barring minor quibbles irrelevant to your question). However, people tend not to use "wish" like this in real-life conversation. Sentences like "He wishes you to have
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Greetings, zhouyu.my here. Thank you guys for your replies, However, I think my first question here is, if the word "wish" is used as "want", Then the usage of "wish" is exactly like "want", which can be used in any tenses just like "want", disregard the special notion stated by grammar books saying that wish is primary used as subjunctive. When we are not imagining thing using the verb "wish", p
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AnonymousGreetings, zhouyu.my here. Thank you guys for your replies, However, I think my first question here is, if the word "wish" is used as "want", Then the usage of "wish" is exactly like "want", which can be used in any tenses just like "want",
Correct. But remember, as I mentioned, that the result may not be natural conversational English.
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Thank you for your reply Mr.Woody, you clear my doubts on the word "wish". Wish you have a nice day Emotion: smile.

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