WISH & HOPE: What's the difference?

In your language, the verbs "hope" and "wish" might be very similar or the same. However, in English, they are used in different ways. To clear up the confusion between the two verbs, watch this lesson on "hope" and "wish". I will teach you their definitions and how to use them with proper grammar. I’ll show you how to combine these two verbs with the simple past and past present to talk about your goals and dreams. So don’t just wish you understood; watch the video to make it happen, then take the quiz at https://www.engvid.com/english-vocabulary-wish-hope/ to test yourself!

TRANSCRIPT

I have a dream. I had a dream. I have a wish. I have a hope. I’m going to teach you the difference between two words in English that are confusing, probably be… Because in your language, the words are very similar; if not, used the same. Portuguese, for example. These words are: "wish" versus "hope". Dunh-dunh-dunh-dunh. The challenge is to figure out how they’re different.

So, "wish" and "hope" are both verbs, and they’re actually both regular verbs, so: "I wished" and "I hoped". And they both mean that you want or you desire something. So, you think: "Wow, okay. Well, in my language, oh, we use them the same. Oh, maybe they’re a little bit different. I don’t know. How are they different?" Let me tell you. In English, if you can remember this: "wish" is for stars. So we have a common expression that: "When you wish upon a star". A star, I don’t mean a Hollywood actor or actress; I mean the beautiful twinkly things in the sky are called stars. So, we usually wish upon a star. We think: "Wow. I wish I had a million, trillion thousand dollars." Yeah. And the star goes: "I don’t care. I’m a star. I can’t get you anything." But the reason why this is a wish is because it’s unreal. You want 10 billion dollars. Well, guess what? It’s near impossible that you’re going to get that, unless you work hard or rob a bank. If you’d like to rob a bank, please give me some money; just as a little, like, donation - that would be fine.

"Hope" is for dreamers. So, do you have a dream? Maybe you would like to learn English. You’re on the right track. Maybe your dream is to travel; that’s my dream. Maybe your dream is to achieve your goal. So, if you can remember this: A "wish" is for a star, which means it’s unreal; it’s not going to happen. And "hope" is for dreamers - this is real; with some effort, you can achieve your goal. So, "wish" is for stars; "hope" is for dreamers.

And we have another very important function of "wish". It’s grammar, but that’s okay; you’re good. We can use "wish" for unreal things that you want, but depending on the verb, it’ll tell us what time period you are talking about. So, if you wish you had something or you want something right now… Maybe you are… Were… Maybe you’re playing basketball and you’re watching this lesson. Let’s say you’re playing basketball, and you’re like: "Wow. I wish I were taller." Unfortunately, you cannot be taller just like this. I think there are pretty invasive surgeries you could have to elongate your legs, but it’s just not going to happen; I’m sorry. Or maybe you go: "Wow! I wish I could speak English fluently." Yeah, me too. But the only way you could do that is you practice, so that’s not unachievable, but it’s near impossible; even for me.

"I wish I had"… So this is famous, like: "I wish I had 10 million dollars." Yeah, you don’t; sorry. "I wish I knew". I wish I knew famous people, then I could go to their house, we could hang out, have some food, go in their swimming pool. It’d be fun. But guess what? I’m sorry, you don’t. So these things are something that you want now. We’re going to use simple past as a verb, so the structure: Subject "wish", subject, simple past verb and a noun or an adjective, like "taller". Okay? It’s something that you want to have now, but you probably won’t get it. Ha-ha. Dreams are shattered.

If it’s something that you thought about in the past, in English we would call it a mistake or a regret. So: "mistake" or "regret" means something that you did or didn’t do in the past, and now you think: "Uh-oh. I…" or "she"; you can use different subjects. "She wishes… She wishes she hadn’t eaten all of the chocolate", because now her tummy hurts. So she wishes that in the past she hadn’t have done something. Okay? With this grammar, you’re going to use the past perfect. Past perfect is either: "had" or "hadn’t" plus pp. "Pp" in English grammar means the past participle. And the past participle is difficult to learn, but you can do it. So, I can say: "Oh. He wishes he had bought a different car." But he didn’t. He bought this car, but he’s like: "Oh, damn! I should have bought the other car." Sorry, you’ve made a mistake or you’ve made a regret. So, when we use the past perfect with "wish", which is "had" or "hadn’t" plus the past participle, it’s a mistake in the past. […]