eslHQ Home
User Name Password
Lost Password? | Join eslHQ.com, it's FREE!
View today's posts
Search Extras Help   

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1 (permalink)  
Old Feb 7th, 2007, 01:28 pm
michèle 2's Avatar
eslHQ Addict
 
Join Date: Apr 27th, 2006
Location: France
Age: 68
Posts: 191
michèle 2 is on a distinguished road
Default Hope + present for future

I hope your wishes come true.
I'm just wondering whether I could use "will" in this sentence instead of present simple.
I hope your wishes will come true.
One of my student asked the question.
On the other hand, her teacher wrote : I hope your wishes came true. Is it possible to use a past simple to express future wishes .
Wish + past simple and wish + past perfect express regret, doesn't it?

Thanks for your help
Reply With Quote
  #2 (permalink)  
Old Feb 8th, 2007, 02:08 am
michèle 2's Avatar
eslHQ Addict
 
Join Date: Apr 27th, 2006
Location: France
Age: 68
Posts: 191
michèle 2 is on a distinguished road
Default Re: Hope + present for future

If I say : I wish your dreams came true. It means that I regret that they don't come true doesn't it ? and it doesn't express hope for the future ?
Thanks for your help.
Reply With Quote
  #3 (permalink)  
Old Feb 8th, 2007, 03:02 am
Sue
 
Join Date: Oct 8th, 2006
Location: Milan
Posts: 1,406
susan53 is on a distinguished road
Default Re: Hope + present for future

Quote:
Quote michèle 2
I hope your wishes come true.
I'm just wondering whether I could use "will" in this sentence instead of present simple.
Yes you can. The use of the first form comes just presents the action as a future event, whereas here will is making a prediction about the willingness of the person to come (remember the post about the uses of will and going to?). If you say I hope .. then you're making a prediction, so will is fine. So :
I hope he comes(in the future) or I hope he will come = I hope he agrees/will agree to come

But not came. I hope ... is seen as introducing a real prediction, so you need a first form verb (I'd avoid terms like present/past to describe verbs because they have no real meaning in terms of the English verb system, as these examples show. It's simpler to use first form - come/will/can etc and second form -came/would/could etc)

One use of the second form (came/would/could) is, as you say, to express hypothetical present events (I'm using present here to describe the time of the event not the verb). But when we're speaking hypothetically we switch to I wish ...

So to make a hypothetical prediction and/or to talk about hypothetical willingness, I hope becomes I wish and will (first form) becomes would(second form):
I wish he would come.

But it gets tricky. I wish he came... does not refer to a hypothetical future event. It's referring to a hypothetical habitual event (remember the first form can express real habitual events - he comes here often- so automatically the second form can express hypothetical habitual events) Here the real situation is he doesn't come very often so the hypothetical situation is I wish he came more often.

I hope that clarifies/will clarify the situation
__________________
An ELT Notebook
The DELTA Course
Reply With Quote
  #4 (permalink)  
Old Feb 8th, 2007, 03:53 am
michèle 2's Avatar
eslHQ Addict
 
Join Date: Apr 27th, 2006
Location: France
Age: 68
Posts: 191
michèle 2 is on a distinguished road
Default Re: Hope + present for future

Thanks a lot , Susan.
Reply With Quote
  #5 (permalink)  
Old Apr 2nd, 2009, 01:58 am
eslHQ Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2nd, 2009
Posts: 1
hueso381 is on a distinguished road
Default Re: Hope + present for future

That is a great explanation.
Reply With Quote
  #6 (permalink)  
Old Oct 13th, 2011, 11:59 pm
eslHQ Member
 
Join Date: Oct 13th, 2011
Posts: 1
greggy83 is on a distinguished road
Default Re: Hope + present for future

I don't completely agree with Susan53.

I think the use of 'I hope [that] it will happen' is a casual and ungrammatical structure; the more appropriate and fail-proof sentence would be 'I hope [that] it happens'. This verb form for 'happens' is a subjunctive from what I understand. I surmise that the key for figuring out whether the subjunctive is used is to see whether 'that' could be written in.

Also, using 'hope' is not a prediction: it's merely a wish or a yearning.
Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On

Similar Threads Replies
Pick the Present Tense! 1
The Present Perfect in American English 7
Add Present Continous 0
Present Continuous 0
present continious 0

Find the Best TEFL, TESL, TESOL & CELTA Certification Courses - User Submitted Ratings & Reviews for Online, Distance & Abroad TEFL Courses. Over 3,500 reviews of 100+ TEFL schools!

Teach English in Thailand - Onsite and Combined TEFL certification courses in Phuket, Thailand.


Free ESL Flashcards


Similar Threads Replies
Pick the Present Tense! 1
The Present Perfect in American English 7
Add Present Continous 0
Present Continuous 0
present continious 0


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 09:58 pm.

All materials from this website are for classroom-use only. Digital redistribution of materials, in part or in whole, is strictly forbidden!

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.8
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0 PL2