| Wish: unreal past | wish + past simple: now or later; past perfect: earlier | I wish I knew her name. / I wish I had called her. |
| Wish for a change | a change wanted in someone or something | I wish it would stop raining. |
| If only | the patterns of wish with stronger feeling | If only I had listened. |
| It's time | It's time + subject + past simple means now | It's time we left. |
| As if | past simple: not true now; past perfect: not true before; present: possibly true | He talks as if he knew everything. |
| Would rather | another subject takes the past simple | I'd rather you stayed. |
| Suppose, what if | suppose + past simple: unlikely; what if + present: possible | Suppose you won the lottery? / What if he says no? |
| C1Wish about the past | could have for a missed chance; had been + V-ing for an activity | I wish I could have come. / I wish I hadn't been working so hard. |
| C1In reports | wish becomes wished; the unreal tense stays | He said he wished he had more time. |
| C1Formal wish | wish for + noun; wish (that) + clause with were | I wish that he were here. |
| Trap | a state takes the past simple, not would | I wish I had more time. |
| Trap | it's time + subject takes the past simple | It's time we went. |