Wishfulness

Question

Would you mind telling me if the sentences I made and the answers given are correct, please?1. She refuses to change the curtains. - I wish she would change the curtains.2. You won’t taste that special apple pie. - I wish you would taste that special apple pie. 3.  It’s a shame he doesn’t love that great woman. - I wish he would love that great woman. 4. They won’t welcome their best friend at the airport. - I wish they would welcome their best friend at the airport. 5. It’s a shame they don’t like to take pictures. - I wish they would like to take pictures.6. He refuses to recognize his error. - I wish he would recognize his error. 7. They won’t ornament the church for Christmas - I wish they would ornament the church for Christmas.8. He won’t guide the group in the next event. – I wish he would guide the group in the next event.

BarbaraPA · Accepted Answer

Anonymous

Would you mind telling me if the sentences I made and the answers given are correct, please?

1. She refuses to change the curtains. - I wish she would change the curtains. Okay

2. You won’t taste that special apple pie. - I wish you would taste that special apple pie. Okay. You could also say "taste" instead of "try."

3. It’s a shame he doesn’t love that great woman. - I wish he ~~would~~ loved that great woman. This isn't very natural.

4. They won’t welcome their best friend at the airport. - I wish they would welcome their best friend at the airport. Again, not very natural, though grammatically okay.

5. It’s a shame they don’t like to take pictures. - I wish they ~~would~~ liked to take pictures.

6. He refuses to recognize his error. - I wish he would recognize his error. Okay

7. They won’t ~~ornament~~ decorate the church for Christmas - I wish they would ~~ornament~~ decorate the church for Christmas.

8. He won’t guide the group in the next event. – I wish he would guide the group in the next event.

Thank you!
Andrew

Some of these are simply not very natural. I wish they would meet their best friend at the airport? It's hard to imagine a context for that.

With the verbs like and love, don't use the would. It's the same if you had "to be" or "look" or "seem" - the stative verbs, I think they are called. I wish she were happy, instead of I wish she would be happy, for example, or I wish you liked Indian food so we could eat at the new place in town, instead of I wish you would like Indian food...

Anonymous · Answer

Ms.Geek,

Thank you. I changed sentence nº 3 once the first wasn’t natural. Is it okay now, please?

3. It’s a shame he doesn’t love that great woman. - I wish he would loved that great woman.

(the new one)
3. It’s a shame he doesn’t go out at night so much. - I wish he would go out at night so much.

For nº4 you said that “it’s not very natural, though gramatically okay. And that it’s hard to imagine a context for that.” But if the context were, let’s suppose:

* A group of friends have an old one who lives in a foreign country. He will arrive today in the U.S.A.( *where they live) to visit them. Unfortunately as they will be working at the time of the arrival so, I say: “I wish they would welcome their best friend at the airport”. Doesn’t it seems natural to happen?

4. They won’t welcome their best friend at the airport. - I wish they would welcome their best friend at the airport.

Here I changed a little bit the sentence for:

5. It’s a shame they don’t take pictures. - I wish they would take pictures. (is it okay now?)

7. They won’t decorate the church for Christmas - I wish they would decorate the church for Christmas. (why can’t I use “ornament” instead of “decorate” here? What’s the exact difference in the usage between them, please?)

8. He won’t guide the group in the next event. – I wish he would guide the group in the next event. (is this last sentence okay?)

Best regards,

Andrew

BarbaraPA · Answer

Hi Andrew,

3. It’s a shame he doesn’t love that great woman. - I wish he ~~would~~ loved that great woman No - I wish he loved her.

(the new one)
3. It’s a shame he doesn’t go out at night so much. - I wish he would go out at night so much. When you switch from the negative to the positive, the "so much" needs to change too. I wish he would go out more often. (Or if you started with "He goes out almost every night. I wish he didn't go out so much.)

For nº4 you said that “it’s not very natural, though gramatically okay. And that it’s hard to imagine a context for that.” But if the context were, let’s suppose:

* A group of friends have an old one who lives in a foreign country. He will arrive today in the U.S.A.( *where they live) to visit them. Unfortunately as they will be working at the time of the arrival so, I say: “I wish they would welcome their best friend at the airport”. Doesn’t it seems natural to happen? No. Using "would" implies their will or desire. They cannot. You would say "I wish they could welcome their friend."

5. It’s a shame they don’t take pictures. - I wish they would take pictures. (is it okay now?) It's okay. You can also say more simply "I wish they took pictures [on their travels][ when they visit their children][more often than they do]."

7. They won’t decorate the church for Christmas - I wish they would decorate the church for Christmas. (why can’t I use “ornament” instead of “decorate” here? What’s the exact difference in the usage between them, please?) Perhapsh "ornament" is used as a transitive verb meaning "to decorate" in other regions, but despite its appearance in the dictionary, I have never seen "ornament" used as anything other than a noun.

8. He won’t guide the group in the next event. – I wish he would guide the group in the next event. (is this last sentence okay?) It's okay - but "would" shows his desire to lead. Perhaps it's just not his turn on the schedule. If he won't do it because he doesn't want to, then "I wish he would" is okay. If it's another reason, then something like "I wish he were the one who will be guiding the group..."

BarbaraPA · Answer

Hi Andrew,

3. It’s a shame he doesn’t love that great woman. - I wish he ~~would~~ loved that great woman No - I wish he loved her.

(the new one)
3. It’s a shame he doesn’t go out at night so much. - I wish he would go out at night so much. When you switch from the negative to the positive, the "so much" needs to change too. I wish he would go out more often. (Or if you started with "He goes out almost every night. I wish he didn't go out so much.)

For nº4 you said that “it’s not very natural, though gramatically okay. And that it’s hard to imagine a context for that.” But if the context were, let’s suppose:

* A group of friends have an old one who lives in a foreign country. He will arrive today in the U.S.A.( *where they live) to visit them. Unfortunately as they will be working at the time of the arrival so, I say: “I wish they would welcome their best friend at the airport”. Doesn’t it seems natural to happen? No. Using "would" implies their will or desire. They cannot. You would say "I wish they could welcome their friend."

5. It’s a shame they don’t take pictures. - I wish they would take pictures. (is it okay now?) It's okay. You can also say more simply "I wish they took pictures [on their travels][ when they visit their children][more often than they do]."

7. They won’t decorate the church for Christmas - I wish they would decorate the church for Christmas. (why can’t I use “ornament” instead of “decorate” here? What’s the exact difference in the usage between them, please?) Perhapsh "ornament" is used as a transitive verb meaning "to decorate" in other regions, but despite its appearance in the dictionary, I have never seen "ornament" used as anything other than a noun.

8. He won’t guide the group in the next event. – I wish he would guide the group in the next event. (is this last sentence okay?) It's okay - but "would" shows his desire to lead. Perhaps it's just not his turn on the schedule. If he won't do it because he doesn't want to, then "I wish he would" is okay. If it's another reason, then something like "I wish he were the one who will be guiding the group..."

Anonymous · Answer

Hi Grammar Geek,

3. It’s a shame he doesn’t love that great woman. - I wish he would loved that great woman No - I wish he loved her.

(the new one)
3. It’s a shame he doesn’t go out at night so much. - I wish he would go out at night so much. When you switch from the negative to the positive, the "so much" needs to change too. I wish he would go out more often. (Or if you started with "He goes out almost every night. I wish he didn't go out so much.) Ok. Thanks!

For nº4 you said that “it’s not very natural, though gramatically okay. And that it’s hard to imagine a context for that.” But if the context were, let’s suppose:

* A group of friends have an old one who lives in a foreign country. He will arrive today in the U.S.A.( *where they live) to visit them. Unfortunately as they will be working at the time of the arrival so, I say: “I wish they would welcome their best friend at the airport”. Doesn’t it seems natural to happen? No. Using "would" implies their will or desire. They cannot. You would say "I wish they could welcome their friend." Well this is a little bit difficult to understand because in my mind I understand that they can’t welcome their friend because they’ll be working during the moment of his arrival, but it doesn’t mean that they don’t have the desire/will to welcome him at the airport. So if the desires still exists in spite of the difficulty shown, why is it not very natural to say/write it , though gramatically correct? “I wish they would welcome their best friend at the airport.”?

5. It’s a shame they don’t take pictures. - I wish they would take pictures. (is it okay now?) It's okay. You can also say more simply "I wish they took pictures [on their travels][ when they visit their children][more often than they do]."Ok. So I wrote “It’s a shame they don’t take pictures on their trips. – I wish they would take pictures on their trips.” (here I suppose you wanted to say “trips”, didn’t you?)

7. They won’t decorate the church for Christmas - I wish they would decorate the church for Christmas. (why can’t I use “ornament” instead of “decorate” here? What’s the exact difference in the usage between them, please?) Perhapsh "ornament" is used as a transitive verb meaning "to decorate" in other regions, but despite its appearance in the dictionary, I have never seen "ornament" used as anything other than a noun. So the fact is not that “ornament” can’t be used here or that it is gramatically wrong, but that it’s not commonly used day after day as a verb, isn’t it?

This is what I found in yourdictionary.com (and it is also what you said. Ornament as a transitive verb):

ornament Definition

or·na·ment (or'n? m?nt; for v., -ment')

noun

1. anything serving to adorn; decoration; embellishment; also, a desirable or needed adjunct

2. a person whose character or talent adds luster to the surroundings, society, etc.

3. an adorning or being adorned; ornamentation

4. mere external display

5. Music a tone or tones used to embellish a principal melodic tone

Etymology: OFr ornement< L ornamentum< ornare, to adorn (akin to ordinare: see ordain)

transitive verb

to furnish with ornaments or be an ornament to; decorate; beautify

8. He won’t guide the group in the next event. – I wish he would guide the group in the next event. (is this last sentence okay?) It's okay - but "would" shows his desire to lead. Perhaps it's just not his turn on the schedule. If he won't do it because he doesn't want to, then "I wish he would" is okay. If it's another reason, then something like "I wish he were the one who will be guiding the group..."OK. But it is also something not so easy to understand.

Thank you so much!

Andrew

Wishfulness

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