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  • Hi. My name is Rebecca from www.engvid.com. In life, as much as we try, we don't always

  • do the right thing, right? Sometimes, we do something, and wish afterwards that we hadn't

  • done it. And sometimes, we don't do something and wish afterwards that we had done it. Well,

  • in English we have some expressions to express these kinds of situation and these kinds of

  • feelings that we have when we do and don't do something. All right? So this lesson is

  • focused on that. So what we're basically talking about in this lesson is expressing regret.

  • Regret is when we feel somewhat unhappy and uncomfortable with something that we did or

  • didn't do. So let's get started.

  • So the expression you can use to talk about something that you didn't do that you wish

  • you had done is, "I wish I had --." Now, you can use this expression to talk about personal

  • situations or social situations or business situations. Okay? So you can use it in a professional

  • context as well. So these are things that you wish you had done that you didn't do.

  • And then on the other side, we'll come to the other part of the equation.

  • So for example, you could say, "I wish I had studied harder for my test." Or, "I wish I

  • had bought the house last year when it was so much cheaper." Okay? So these are some

  • examples in the personal realm. You could say, in a social situation, "I wish I had

  • called her last week." "I wish I had gone to the concert." Okay? This means you didn't

  • go to the concert, and you're saying you heard it was really good. "I wish I had gone to

  • the concert." In a professional context you might say, "I wish I had quoted a better price."

  • "I wish I had booked the meeting room earlier." Okay?

  • So here, you have some examples. Now, you do see another expression down here. Instead

  • of saying, "I wish I had" plus whatever you need to say, you could also use the expression,

  • "If only I had --." For example, "If only I had booked the conference room earlier."

  • "If only I had quoted a better price." Okay? So you get the idea on this side.

  • Now, we come to this side. This is when you did something, and you shouldn't have done

  • it, and you wish that you had not done it. So then, you could say, "I wish I hadn't eaten

  • so much. I was really trying lose weight. I'm supposed to be on a diet. Why did I eat

  • so much? I wish I hadn't eaten so much." Or, "I wish I hadn't waited until now to call

  • her." Okay? Another example. "I wish I hadn't trusted him/her." I wish I hadn't invited

  • them." Or in a profession situation, "I wish I hadn't agreed to their proposal." "I wish

  • I hadn't paid the contractor already." Or, "I wish I hadn't paid the contractor in advance."

  • Okay? And again, another way of expressing the same thing is to say, "If only I hadn't

  • paid the contractor in advance, we could've found another contractor." "If only I hadn't

  • agreed to their proposal, I could have considered your offer." Okay? So you see that you can

  • use "I wish I had", "I wish I hadn't", or you can use "if only I had" or "if only I

  • hadn't". Okay? And all of these are used to express regret for something you did or something

  • you didn't do. And it happens to all of us, so now you know how to express it. Okay? So

  • if you'd like to do a quiz on this subject, please go to our website, www.engvid.com.

  • That way, you'll have a chance to really master what we've studied here. And also, subscribe

  • to my YouTube channel. I'd be happy to see you again. Bye, for now.

Hi. My name is Rebecca from www.engvid.com. In life, as much as we try, we don't always

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