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Grammar Challenge

Grammar Challenge © BBC Learning English

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Catherine's Grammar Explanation: Corporation 2007

Wish + past perfect

Hi Daewon! Well done - Mark didn't take his umbrella to the park, and now he

regrets it. Elena bought an expensive dress, and she regrets that too. Here's Mark:

Mark: I wish I had taken my umbrella.

Let's break that down. Mark used:

I wish, with the past perfect. Now remember,

the past perfect has 3 parts; a

subject, like I, you, he, then 'had' and finally, the

past participle

, for example, take, took, taken – taken is the past participle. So

'I had taken'

is past perfect.

So, when Mark says

Mark: I wish I had taken my umbrella.

he's using 'I wish', with past perfect, to talk about past regrets.

Mark regrets something that

didn't happen – he didn't take his umbrella, and he

wishes he had. But Elena regrets something that

did happen: she bought an

expensive dress, but she never wore it. So

she uses I wish with I hadn't bought –

that's a

negative past perfect. Here she is again…

Elena: I wish I hadn’t bought a rather expensive dress in the sales.

One more thing, if you're talking about

he or she, don't forget to say wishes

instead of

wish – so if you're talking about Elena, say 'she wishes she hadn't

bought that dress'.

Ok Daewon, good luck with your grammar challenge!

叶凝云

好东西啊 O(∩_∩)O~

jia-jie-mail

叶凝云 发表于 2012-11-21 16:31
好东西啊 O(∩_∩)O~

谢谢