wish
part of speech
verb (wish, wishes, wished, wishing); noun (wish, wishes)
meaning for a pupil
1) To wish means to want something to happen, even if it may not. A wish is that hope. tree →
2) In stories, a wish is a request that is made true by magic. tree →
3) To wish someone something is to say you hope they have it: I wish you a happy birthday. tree →
4) Best wishes are kind words at the end of a letter or card. tree →
sense in the lessons
In maths: a hope or a want in a story; sometimes wishes are counted, or an amount wished for is a goal: needed = goal − have. In stories: a genie or a fairy grants three wishes; make a wish when you blow out the candles. Phrases: make a wish, wish for, I wish, best wishes, if you wish, wish someone well.
examples
- The genie gave her 3 wishes. tree →
- He wishes to buy a game for $45. tree →
- She wished for 10 more stickers. tree →
- They each made 2 wishes. tree →
- Close your eyes and make a wish. tree →
- I wish it would stop raining. tree →
- We wish you a happy holiday. tree →
- Best wishes from all of us. tree →
- You can sit here if you wish. tree →
- I wish I had learnt it.” tree →
note
Plural «wishes». «I wish I were» or «I wish I was» are both used; «were» is more formal. A wished amount is a goal: needed = goal − have. Otherwise a story word.
In the corpora
- In Japan there is a tradition of folding 1,000 paper cranes for a wish.
- Alice wishes she could "shut up like a telescope", meaning fold down smaller like a pull-out telescope.
- In the end she bursts into tears: "I do wish they would put their heads down!
- In the middle is a dish of tarts that look so good that Alice wishes they'd hurry up and hand round the refreshments.
- Toad asks: «I wish you would kindly let me try and drive the car for a little...
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «wish» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.