English · Education and Career Choices

Expressing wish and desire — I wish / I'd like

A wish that is not true, and a desire that is possible

  • Foreign languages important
  • Literature and philosophy important

6 minutes

The academic content is in Arabic, as at the BAC and as in the app.

What the syllabus expects from you

  • Expressing wish and desire (I wish/I'd like) about study/career choices

The method

  1. 'I wish' + past simple for a present wish that is not true; 'I'd like' for a polite desire

The common mistakes

  • Using 'I wish' + present tense instead of past simple

From the lesson

Read what this student wrote in her diary.

The vocabulary

  • I wish I could ... (أتمنى لو أستطيع)
  • I'd like to ... (أود أن)

What is not on the syllabus

  • 2nd conditional (previous concept)
  • warnings with unless (next concept)

Builds on