WISH & HOPE: What's the difference?

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. […]

[arispacetimeanduniverse]

I remember watching you back in 2015 to understand the difference between Present Perfect and Past Simple AND i had bad teachers at school (no shade! they were good people but didn't give us knowledge). So we didn't do listening tasks. And you were the first native speaker I understood while watching a youtube video! Now, I am studying at uni to become an english teacher and work part-time as an english tutor. I wrote it to say that I still love your videos and your energy! You're really cool!

[khybermomand]

Thanks for your best lesson Ronnie! I really love your all lesson.
Examples of ‘wish’:

I wish to travel.
I wish that it were morning.
I wish him the best during his recovery.
I’m going to wish the neighbor, Good Morning.
I wish he could come to the party.
He wished upon a star.

Examples of ‘hope’:

I give up hope that this will turn out for the best.
I hope we will this competition.
There is little or no hope of his recovery.
The medicine was her last hope.
Her forgiveness is my constant hope.
I hope to see my son graduate.
We hope for an early summer.
I hope the work I’ve done is satisfactory for the promotion.

[EnglishwithAB]

Ronnie is back with another informative, entertaining and funny lesson.

[Franciscoluche]

We missed you "Big Sista". 😭 Finally a new video, so happy !!! 🤗🌸 Hi from Vietnam 😘❤

[brunootilio]

Her accent and pronunciation are awesome. It's a kind of rollercoaster on her phrases and you can literally understand each single word.

[pedromalbernaz]

Amazing explanation! You’re a really great teacher! Thank you!

[innainna]

Thank you for this lessons. It really helps me to learn English! Hello from Ukraine 🇺🇦 💜

[gsbrmmu]

Teaching grammar in such a funny way is amazing !!! Ronnie is a talented teacher !!!

[YouKnowMeDuh]

A friend sent this video to me. As a native English speaker, this is a very good video!

[amrelakhras]

I love your way for driving ideas to foreign learners (like me )
It isn't too easy to do but you did
Thank you Ronnie

[geremiasalves]

Ms. Ronnie you are a great teacher, you are my favorite one I love your all lesson

[elfarouk]

the best teacher ever, I wish you all the best .

[ismailismaili]

Ms. Ronnie you are always a great teacher thank you

[CarolinesEnglishLife]

Yay Ronnie! I always recommend your lessons to my students :) You're one of the key teachers that made me want to set up my own channel for English learners :) Thank you!

[andersonrossi]

I wish I had a chance to study English with Ronnie. I hope one day I can pay a visit in Canada in order to get that. Thanks Ronnie.

[slagunes]

I wish you had explained more the differences between hope and wish instead of explaining the grammar of wish but thank you for all of your efforts, you are a great teacher :)

[vicentereyes]

Todos los videos de este canal tienen una tremenda utilidad. A cada uno se le puede sacar mucho provecho. El que no aprende por lo menos algo de inglés, es por que no quiere!

[hivimohamad]

HEY YOU ARE A VERYYY GOOD TEACHER ❤❤ THANK YOU SO MUCH 👏👏👏👏

[igorjoaquim]

Man..you are the best teacher ever... congratulatons

[dilshodakenjaeva]

I love your lessons. I wish I would meet you and say to you. " You were born with TEACHING abilities and Thank you"