GIVE ANSWERS - English

100% GOOD (1 votes)AtsakytaLanguage Question
I have a problem in the grammar of ( hope) and ( wish) . Who can help me ?

GIVE ANSWERS

SufiOzil profile picture SufiOzilSeptember 2020

actually, they are synonyms. so basically no difference. But as far you are concerned with speaking, you can say hope mainly expresses a desire that is possible or likely to happen whereas wish usually expresses a desire that is less likely to happen.

  • AussieInBg profile picture AussieInBgOctober 2020
    Ummm no. They are not exactly synonymous and their usage differs significantly. You can’t easily swap between ”hope” and ”wish” as if they are synonyms. A native English speaker might understand that you are expressing a ”desire”, but it would sound strange.

    In modern normal everyday English:

    The use of ”hope” and ”wish” depends on whether the situation is ”neutral” or ”negative” and the desired outcome being ”neutral” or ”positive”.

    We use ”hope” for ”neutral” or ”negative” situations giving desired ultimately ”positive” outcomes.

    e.g. I hope that you pass the exam tomorrow.

    The situation is neutral/negative, i.e. an exam you are taking tomorrow. The outcome desired is positive, i.e. an exam that has been passed. Note that ”outcome” remains positive because it can be achieved.

    We use ”wish” for situations going from ”negative” to ”neutral”.

    e.g. ”I wish he would shut up!”. The situation is ”someone noisy and annoying” - negative - and the desired outcome is ”quiet”, a return to how things were before he started making noise and therefore the desired outcome is neutral in nature. Here, we use ”wish” for a desire that is achievable, neutral and likely to happen.

    ”Hope” generally gives a more achievable positive outcome in some circumstances whereas ”wish” is much less achievable. This is actually due to the difference in meaning of ”hope” and ”wish”. ”Hope” is for likely positive outcomes. So, if things are highly likely, the you can still be positive about the result.

    ”I hope that he recovers from his illness soon.” - Positive desired outcome of him being healthy and alive after the negative situation of being sick. All the indications are that he will get better.

    However, even if a potential positive outcome is there, but the result is unlikely, then that reduces the expressed desire to one of feeling overall ”neutral” - so we use ”wish” in this case.

    ”| wish that I could retire next year.” Going from a negative situation of ”working” to the positive outcome of ”retirement”. - Highly positive outcome *IF* it happens, but it’s unlikely. Therefore, the desire’s outcome is overall ”neutral”.

    We wouldn’t use ”wish” for a neutral situation for a highly unlikely positive outcome - you end up with an desire that is ultimately neutral.

    In general, we never use ”hope” or ”wish” for a neutral situation with a neutral outcome.

    Now, it’s possible to use ”wish” in highly formal language even where the desired outcome is positive and likely, e.g.

    ”We would like to wish you every success and much happiness upon the news regarding the recent birth of your daughter.”

    A warning: unless your level is somewhere in C2, don’t try to use ”wish” in this manner, except perhaps for some set expressions This is rather archaic language.