We use the verb ‘wish’ to talk about something that we would like to happen but that is impossible or highly unlikely. For example: “I wish I was taller.”
It can also be used with the past perfect to describe something that has already happened, but that we would like to have happened differently. For example: “I wish I hadn’t eaten so much at that buffet.”
But what about the strange construction ‘I wish I would have…‘? What does it mean, and is it even grammatically correct?
Let’s take a look at this and other ways to express wishes in English.
Is ‘I wish I would have…’ grammatically correct?
The short answer is that the construction ‘I wish I would have’ is not grammatically correct by standard English grammar rules.
You will probably never hear British English speakers saying it, but some American English speakers do say it to mean “I wish I had”. This usage is prevalent in Minnesota and other Midwestern and Southern US states, according to this study.
However, many other Americans do not use it as they consider it non-standard, colloquial use of the English language. In fact, some go as far as to say it sounds “uneducated”.
So, if you’re an English learner wondering whether to say ‘I wish I would have…’, the answer is probably ‘no’.
‘I wish I would have’ grammar alternatives
When people do use the construction ‘I wish I would have…’, it’s as part of a sentence expressing regret about something that has happened.
For example:
- I wish I would have saved more money for my retirement.
- I wish they would have been honest with me.
- I wish it wouldn’t have rained all weekend.
- I wish I would have listened to their advice.
As you can see, the second pronoun may be changed to refer to another person or object. People also form negative statements with this construction.
English speakers sometimes contract ‘would’ in these sentences so it becomes less noticeable, but still incorrect:
- I wish I’d have saved more money for my retirement.
- I wish they’d have been honest with me.
- I wish I’d have listened to their advice.
The standard way to express these ideas about wishes for the past is with the past perfect tense:
- I wish I had saved more money for my retirement.
- I wish they had been honest with me.
- I wish it hadn’t rained all weekend.
- I wish I had listened to their advice.
Perhaps some confusion arises from the fact that ‘I had’ can also be contracted to ‘I’d’.
The ‘would have‘ part comes from the third conditional tense, which we use to speculate about how something that happened in the past could have been different. These statements are formed with an ‘if’ clause using the past perfect tense and a main clause using the perfect conditional. For example:
- If I had known I would live this long, I would have saved more money for my retirement.
- If they were decent people, they would have been honest with me.
- I bet it wouldn’t have rained all weekend if we hadn’t been camping.
- I would have listened to their advice if I had known how valuable it would be.
You could also use ‘should have’ to express how you wish things had been different. For example:
- I should have saved more money for my retirement.
- They should have been honest with me.
- It should have been sunny.
- I should have listened to their advice.
See also: Advice vs advise
Ways to use ‘wish’ correctly
So, we have established that ‘I wish I would have’ is incorrect, and we looked at how to express wishes about the past with the past perfect.
But what about expressing wishes about the future and the present?
Wishes for the future with ‘would’ and ‘could’
To describe a wish for something to happen in the future, we use the modal verbs ‘would‘ and ‘could‘.
- I wish the rain would stop.
- He wishes he could get a better job.
- We wish we could spend the summer in Greece.
- I wish he would take me to the concert with him.
We don’t use ‘wish’ with any future tenses that use ‘will’ or ‘going to’. However, you can use ‘hope’ with these, e.g. “I hope he will take me to the concert.” and “I hope you are going to clean up that mess later.”
Wishes about the present
To describe a wish for something to change in the present, use the past simple or past continuous tense.
- Selina wishes she lived in a bigger house.
- I wish we were staying in that hotel; it looks much nicer than ours.
- They wish they had more time to complete the project.
- I wish it wasn’t so hot today.
Wishes about the past
As a reminder, we express regret about the past or a wish that something had happened differently by using the past perfect tense.
- I wish I hadn’t eaten so much ice cream.
- She wishes she had completed her course instead of dropping out.
- They all wish they had opted for the bus tour rather than the boat trip.
- I wish my mother had taught me how to sew.
If only…
We can also use ‘If only…’ in any of these tenses as an alternative way to express a desire or longing for something to be different.
- If only we could spend the summer in Greece. It looks so beautiful there!
- If only we had more time to complete the project, we wouldn’t have to rush.
- If only they had been honest with me, we would still be friends.
- If only it hadn’t rained all weekend, we would have had a great time!
- If only I had listened to their advice, I would have succeeded.
Learn more about if vs whether here.
To conclude
There are many valid ways to talk about wishes, hopes, regrets, and desires in English – but ‘I wish I would have…’ isn’t one of them, if you’re sticking to the rule book.
In some parts of the US this is an accepted colloquial phrase, but elsewhere it will have a jarring effect on the listener. So, unless you are speaking directly to someone who uses this construction themselves, we recommend avoiding it and instead using one of the standard grammatical constructions mentioned in this article.
You can discover more differences between British and American English grammar to be sure you’re not making any mistakes without realizing.
