Wish...

Note spelling: "president".

It it's something you want to do now: "I wish to speak to the president."

If it's something you regret not doing in the past: "I wish I'd spoken to the president."

"I wish to..." feels formal and not very conversational. There are various alternatives, such as:

"I want to speak to the president."

"I'd like to speak t

But what about this sentence " I wish I spoke to the president". What does it mean?

With all my respect...

GRAVEDIGGER

Mr Wordy"Could I speak to the president, please?"

Hey, Mr Wordy, Welcome back! [<:o)]

I noticed your absence about the same time A

gravedigger" I wish I spoke to the president".

It's a bit more common to use the past perfect:
I wish I had spoken to the president.
Your version would be used in very casual conversation.

To me, it suggests that you had the opportunity to speak to the president, but failed to do so.
Perhaps there's some business you wish you had d

gravediggerBut what about this sentence " I wish I spoke to the president". What does it mean?

I take a slightly harder line on this than Avangi; to me, this sentence feels ungrammatical. It may be that we are less tolerant of this pattern in British English.

Mr Wordy

gravediggerBut what about this sentence " I wish I spoke to the president". What does it mean?

I take a slightly harder line on this than Avangi; to me, this sentence feels ungrammatical. It may be that we are less tolerant of this pattern in British English.

Ungrammatical, that is, in the sense that I think you int

Would you have a look at this please?

Sarah wants to phone Paul, but she can't do this because she doesn't know his number.

She says:

I wish I knew Paul's phone number. (= I don't know it and I regret this)

With all my respect...

GRAVEDIGGER

Mr Wordyto me, this sentence feels ungrammatical

It does to me as well.
It's just that I find we sometimes categorize things as conversational on EF which are surprising.

gravediggerSarah wants to phone Paul, but she can't do this because she doesn't know his number.
She says:
I wish I knew Paul's phone number. (= I don't know it and I regret this)

This is fine.

I wish I spoke is wrong. It should be I wish I had spoken. But I wish I knew is right.

spoke is a dynamic verb; know is a stative verb.

CJ