Wish and if only worksheets
21 worksheets · Modals & verb patterns
Start here — 3 free samples
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Wish / if only worksheets
21 printable worksheets with answer keys.
Warm-ups and fillers
Quick Fun Corner activities on the same theme: no preparation.
- Ice breaker · B2Tell your partner a question you’d love to be asked but never are, then let them ask it. “Ask me what I’m reading at the moment!”
- Filler · B2Say a situation: “You’re stuck in traffic.” Students react with “I wish…” and “If only…”: “I wish I’d taken the train.” “If only this car could fly.”
About Wish / if only
Wish and if only express regret or a desire for things to be different, and use a tense one step back in time. For present situations we use the past simple or continuous (I wish I had a car; I wish it wasn't raining). For past regrets we use the past perfect (If only I had listened). Wish + would expresses annoyance or a wish for someone else to change: I wish you would stop interrupting.
It is usually taught at B2, after the second and third conditionals, which share the same backshift logic. Learners commonly use will or the present after wish (*I wish I will pass), overuse would (*I wish I would be taller) and forget that wish + would is not used about oneself.
This page brings together printable wish and if only worksheets with answer keys that you can print as PDFs or assign online via a class link.
Teaching tips: Wish / if only
- Link wish to conditionals: I don't have a car → I wish I had a car → If I had a car, I'd drive to work.
- Use 'bad day' or 'desert island' scenarios to generate both present and past wishes.
- Point out that if only is stronger and more emotional than I wish, and often used in exclamations.
- Watch for *I wish I would…; for your own situation use a past form instead: I wish I could swim.
- Distinguish wish (unreal) from hope (possible): I hope you pass vs I wish I had studied harder.
Questions teachers ask
What's the difference between wish and hope?
Hope is for things that are possible and uses normal tenses (I hope it's sunny tomorrow). Wish is for things that are unreal or unlikely, so it takes a past form: I wish it were sunny today.
Is it 'I wish I were' or 'I wish I was'?
Both are correct. Were is more formal and preferred in writing; was is common in everyday speech.
When do we use wish + would?
To complain about another person's behavior or a situation we want to change: I wish he would call. It is not used about ourselves; we say I wish I could… instead.