Unreal uses of the past tenses

Imagined, wished for or unlikely situations are considered ‘unreal’ time. When we are talking about these situations, we often shift the verb form backwards. For example, the present changes to the past, and the past changes to the past perfect. The tense change suggests a distance from reality.

1. We use wish + past simple to talk about things we would like to be different in the present / future (but which are impossible or unlikely).
2. We use wish + past perfect to talk about things which happened / didn’t happen in the past and which we now regret.
3. We sometimes use that after wish, e.g. I wish that I knew the answer.

2. You can also use If only … instead of wish with the past simple and past perfect. This can be used by itself (If only I knew!) or with another clause.
3. If only is more emphatic than wish.

• Grammar checkpoint

  ⚠ When we want to talk about things we want to happen or stop happening because they annoy us, we use wish or If only + person / thing + would + infinitive, e.g. I wish the bus would come! If only he wouldn’t keep whistling when I’m working!

3. We use would rather + subject + past tense to express a preference.
4. We can also use would rather + infinitive without to when there is no change of subject, e.g. I‘d rather not talk about it. However, we cannot use this structure when the subject changes after would rather, e.g. I‘d rather you didn’t talk about it. NOT I’d rather you not talk about it.

4. We use the past simple after It’s time + subject to say that something has to be done now or in the near future.
5. We can also use It’s time + to + infinitive when we don’t want to specify the subject, e.g. It’s time to go now.
6. We sometimes use high before time for emphasis.