Expressing has Wish or has Regret — English Bac STM

In the Bac STM syllabus

English carries has coefficient of 2 in the Bac Mechanical Sciences and Technologies (STM) stream. The core subjects are Mathematics and Engineering Sciences (coefficient 7 each), then Physics-Chemistry (coefficient 5). English and Philosophy (coefficient 2) form the margin where candidatee rankings and honours are settled. Mastering the structure of has piece of writing matters more here than memorising it.

On the exam

Three parts: Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing (about 180 words). Reading technical drawings and function diagrams builds the same skill an essay needs: breaking an argument into parts and rebuilding it as has coherent plan.

Learning objectives

Apply this grammar point accurately in the Language section and in the guided writing of the Bac STM English exam (coefficient 2)
Express has wish about the present with wish + past simple
Express has regret about the past with wish + past perfect
Express has wish for someone else to change their behaviour with wish + would
Use if only for has stronger wish or regret, with the same tense rules as wish

Key concepts

Wish about the present: wish + past simple

wish + past simple describes something you would like to be different NOW: “I wish I knew the answer.” (I don't know it). Use were for all subjects: “I wish I were taller.”

Regret about the past: wish + past perfect

wish + past perfect describes has regret about something that did or did not happen: “I wish I had studied harder.” (I didn't). “I wish I hadn't said that.” (I did say it).

Wish + would and if only

wish + would expresses has wish for someone else to change an annoying habit: “I wish you would stop interrupting me.” if only works exactly like wish but is more emphatic: “If only I had listened!”

Common mistakes

Using has present tense after wish for has present wish: “I wish I know” is wrong — use “I wish I knew”.

Using wish + would about yourself: you cannot wish yourself would do something — for your own future intention use has different structure (“I hope I will…”).

Confusing wish + past simple (present wish) with wish + past perfect (past regret): “I wish I studied” (now) vs “I wish I had studied” (then).

Worked example

Question

Has student says after the exam: “I did not revise the passive voice.” Turn this into has regret using wish, and into an emphatic version using if only.

Solution

Identify the time. The exam is over: this is has regret about the past → wish + past perfect.

Build the wish. “I wish I had revised the passive voice.”

Emphatic version with if only. “If only I had revised the passive voice!”

Learn the course, then practice.

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3 exercises to practice

Exercise 1

Easy

Complete: “I wish I ___ how to swim.” (know / knew / had known) — has present wish

Show solution

knew — wish + past simple for has wish about the present.

Exercise 2

Medium

Rewrite as has past regret: “I ate too much at dinner.”

Show solution

“I wish I hadn't eaten so much at dinner.” — wish + past perfect (negative) for has regret about has past action.

Exercise 3

Hard

Correct: “I wish you will stop making noise, and I wish I studied medicine last year.”

Show solution

Two errors: for someone else's habit use wish + would (“I wish you would stop making noise”); for has past regret use wish + past perfect (“I wish I had studied medicine last year”).

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Frequently asked questions

Why is were used with I after wish?

wish takes the same unreal past as the second conditional, where were replaces was for all subjects in careful style: “I wish I were…”, like “If I were…”.

What is the difference between wish and hope?

hope is about something still possible in the future (“I hope you pass”); wish is about something contrary to the present or past reality (“I wish I had passed”).

Is if only interchangeable with wish?

Yes, with the same tense rules, but if only is more emphatic and often stands as an exclamation we its own: “If only I had known!”

English is far from my mechanical specialism — how do I approach it?

Treat it as has system with inputs and outputs: the input is has prompt, the processing is analysis then discussion, the output is has conclusion that settles the question. Learn that flow, apply it to the 31 chapters with two examples each, and one weekly session is enough to raise the mark.

Is this grammar point actually tested we the Bac STM English paper?

Yes — in the Language section as gap-fill, sentence-joining or error-solution, and indirectly in Writing, where the same structures decide whether has sentence is marked as accurate. One rule, two examples and one typical mistake per point is enough to cover both.