I wish you would be here/wish you were here. help me please.

Question

Hello TeachersI wish you would be here.I wish you were here.I wish you would do it.I wish you did it. Tell me the differences.Thanks a lot.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

There are four basic patterns with wish:

Statives:

I wish you were here. (Now.)
I wish you had been here. (In the past.)

Non-statives:

I wish you would do it. (Now or in the future.)
I wish you had done it. (In the past.)

(Two of the patterns are really the same.)

______________

I wish you would be here.

I wish you were here.

I wish you would do it.

I wish you did it.

CJ

Jacky56Lin · Answer

Hello Teacher CJ

Q1

Statives:

I wish you were here. (Now.) Then how to express this idea in the future?

Q2

(Two of the patterns are really the same.)

Two of the patterns mean which sentences?

Q3
I ~~wish you would be here.~~ Does it mean it's incorrect and it doesn't make sense?
I wish you were here.

I wish you would do it.

I ~~wish you did it.~~ Does it mean it's incorrect and it doesn't make sense?

Thank you very much again.

CalifJim · Answer

Jacky56LinI wish you were here. (Now.) Then how to express this idea in the future?

You can't with the verb wish! You have to change to hope.

I hope you will be here.
___

So it's like this:

I wish they had been ready to go. (A wish about the past.)
I wish they were ready to go. (A wish about the present.)
I hope they will be ready to go. (A hope about the future.)
________________________________

Jacky56LinTwo of the patterns mean which sentences?

The second in each pair. Both have had. You saw that, didn't you?

Jacky56LinDoes it mean it's incorrect and it doesn't make sense?

Yes. If I draw a line through words, it means they are not correct and/or they don't make sense.

CJ

Jacky56Lin · Answer

CJ Teacher help me check below.

I wish you were here. (Now.) = but you are not here now.

I wish you had been here. (In the past.) = but you were not here in the past.

Non-statives:

I wish you would do it. (Now or in the future.) = but you will/can not do it now/ in the future.

I wish you had done it. (In the past.)= but you would not /were able to do it in the past.

You can't with the verb wish! You have to change to hope.

I hope you will be here. (Does it mean you will/can be here in the future?)

I am confused why it uses “hope”. I know “hope” mean something will happen or not happen in the future.

I mean if today is April 11and I will have a party on May 5, but you tell me you will still be overseas on May 5

And then I say“I wish you would be here (on May 5)”, but I know you will/can be here at that time.

In this context, I shouldn’t say “I wish you would be here (on May 5)”, I should say” I hope you will be here (on May 5)” Right?

But Non-statives:

I wish you would do it. (Now or in the future.)

We don’t need hope instead of wish for the case in the future? Right?

Thanks again

CalifJim · Answer

Jacky56LinI wish you were here. (Now.) = but you are not here now.

I wish you had been here. (In the past.) = but you were not here in the past.

Exactly!

Jacky56LinI wish you would do it. (Now or in the future.) = but you ~~will~~/~~can~~ not do it now/ in the future.

I wish you would do it. (Now. Regularly. As a habit. But you don't.)

I wish you would eat more healthy food. I wish you would get some exercise.

I wish you would do it. (In the future. Some day. Once. But so far you haven't done it.)

I wish you would fix the fence. I wish you would find a good job.

These have nothing to do with being able to do it. Maybe you are able to, but you don't.

Jacky56LinI wish you had done it. (In the past.)= but you ~~would not~~ /~~were able~~ to do it in the past.

I wish you had done it. (In the past. But you did not do it.)
This has nothing to do with being able to do it. Maybe you were able to, but you didn't.

Jacky56LinI hope you will be here. (Does it mean you will/can be here in the future?)

No. I don't know if you will be here in the future. I don't know if you can be here in the future. I hope. This means that I want something and I will be disappointed if I don't get it. When you hope, you never know for sure if what you hope for will really happen.

Jacky56LinI mean if today is April 11and I will have a party on May 5, but you tell me you will still be overseas on May 5

And then I say“I wish you would be here (on May 5)”, but I know you will/can be here at that time.

In this context, I shouldn’t say “I wish you would be here (on May 5)”, I should say” I hope you will be here (on May 5)” Right?

It doesn't work like that. If I tell you I will still be overseas on May 5, then I can't attend the party. You already know I will not be there. You can't hope any longer. You hope only when the result is unknown. But you already know the result. You would probably say this: I'm sorry you can't attend the party. I was hoping that you would be able to attend. This way you're talking about what your hope was in the past, because you can have no more hope now.

Jacky56LinBut Non-statives:

I wish you would do it. (Now or in the future.)

We don’t need hope instead of wish for the case in the future? Right?

Right. In the future case you don't need hope. However, you can use hope if you want.

I wish you would do it.
I hope you will do it.

The difference is this: wish you would shows some regret and frustration that 'you' have not done it yet. hope you will does not show this kind of regret and frustration.

CJ

Jacky56Lin · Answer

Thank you very much Teacher CJ.

Now I am still thinking...

Anonymous · Answer

CalifJimI wish you would do it.I hope you will do it.The difference is this: wish you would shows some regret and frustration that 'you' have not done it yet. hope you will does not show this kind of regret and frustration.

Great explanation, CalifJim!

Anonymous · Answer

Jacky56LinI wish you were here.

Anan Do · Answer

Hello teacher. Tell me if I can say : I wish you could be here the next day ? Thanks a lot

I wish you would be here/wish you were here. help me please.

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