Understanding Grammar: Wishes Introduction

Jack: Hello my name’s Jack

Rowan: My name’s Rowan

Rich: and I’m Rich and welcome to this week’s Premier Skills English podcast

Jack: In the Premier Skills English podcast, we talk about football and help you with your English.

Rich: We’d like to welcome back Rowan who is joining us again this week. Hi Rowan.

Rowan: Hi Rich. Hi Jack. Hi everyone who is listening.  It’s very good to be back again this week.

Jack: In this week’s roleplay, we’re going to be talking about wishes.

Rich: I wish I could fly. I wish I had worked harder at school. I wish I weren’t so busy.

Rowan: I wonder what footballers would wish for? Well, in the roleplay this week we’re going to listen to some footballers who find a magical football trophy and get to make three wishes each.

Jack: Wow! Some real footballers?

Rich: Don’t be silly, Jack! It’s going to be me, you and Rowan pretending to be footballers. It should be funny!

Rowan: Yes, it should be. I’ve seen you kick a football. After the roleplay, we’re going to focus on the language of wishes.

Jack: How do we wish for something that is impossible or unlikely to happen? Or how do we express a wish to change something that happened in the past?

Rich: Your task this week is to imagine that you have three wishes and you will use one wish to change the past, one wish to change the present and one wish to change the future.

Rowan: If you’re listening to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcast platform, you should also check out our website.

Jack: That’s because on the Premier Skills English website you’ll also find the transcript, examples and activities to help you understand the language, a task for you to do and a community of friendly listeners to interact with, in our comments section.

Rich: And that includes us - we’re always around to answer questions and join the discussions.

Rowan: A lot to get through today! Before we get into all that we need to look back at last week’s football phrase.

Last week’s Football Phrase 

Jack: If you didn’t hear our football phrase last week we’re going to give you one more chance to guess now.

Rowan: Last week’s football phrase was to ***** ** *** *****. It is an idiom that means to give up or give in - to stop playing because you don't think you can win or you've had enough. It’s more common to use it in the negative in football - don’t ***** ** *** ***** - never give up. The phrase comes from boxing, I think.

Rich: We’ll give you the correct answer at the end of the show when we give you a new football phrase.

Jack: The first listener to get it right last week was Marco Zapien from Mexico. Congratulations Marco - it’s the second week in a row you’ve been first - good job.

Rowan: A big well done to Nicolas from Colombia who got the correct answer for the first time last week. Also, well done to Elghoul from Algeria, Luibomyr and Sabanoleg from Ukraine, and W.santa from Argentina who also got it right. Commiserations to Hayato from Japan and Lakerwang from China who very nearly got the right answer.

Rich: Remember we’ll have a new football phrase for you to guess at the end of the show.

Introduction to Roleplay

Jack: In this section, you’re going to hear a roleplay. You’re going to hear the end of a training session between a couple of players and a coach.

Rowan: While you are listening, we want you to answer a couple of questions:

Rich: What do the players wish for?

Jack: What does the manager wish for?

Roleplay

Rowan: Come on guys! I want you to hit the target! It’s that big white thing over there. The thing with the posts and the net.

Rich: Ten more?

Rowan: If you hadn’t missed that open goal on Saturday, we wouldn’t be here now for extra shooting practice after everyone’s gone home.

Jack: I wish I hadn’t missed that chance in the first half.

Rowan: What was that?

Jack: I was just saying that I wish I hadn’t missed …

Rowan: We all wish that! Three points dropped. I wish that, you wish that, and the fans wish that. Come on! Hit it. Top bins!

Rowan: Oh my life! Not even close. We’ve run out of balls. You’re gonna have to go into the stands and get them. Go on!

Rich: This is all a bit much, isn’t it? Who does she think she is? Alex Ferguson?

Jack: I’m starting to wish I’d never joined this club.

Rich: Where are those balls? They’ve probably gone under the seats here. Hold on! What’s this? A bag.

Jack: What’s in it?

Rich: Don’t know. It’s heavy. Probably a brick. Let’s have a look. Cool. A trophy.

Jack: Pass it here. Oh, it’s really old. It could be worth something.

Rich: What does it say on it?

Rowan: Come on you two! What’s keeping you?

Rich: We’ve found this - it’s a trophy, coach.

Rowan: Not something you’ll win unless you get back to practice. Let’s have a look at this. What does it say here? Mystical Cup? What’s that? Let me clean this dirt off.

Rich/Rowan/Jack: Wooah!!

Genie: I am the genie of the Mystical Cup and I grant you three wishes.

Rich: Three wishes? Is that one each?

Genie: I am the genie of the Mystical Cup and I grant you three wishes.

Jack: Let’s go with three each. He looks a bit like Alex Ferguson, doesn’t he?

Rich: Right, I’ll go first. What could I wish for? I wish I could have a new car. No, I know. ‘Genie! I’d like the best left foot in world football’.

Genie: Your wish is granted.

Jack: How do we know it’s worked?

Rowan: Give him a ball. Here. Let’s see you hit it in the corner.

Rich: Top bins!! Premier League, here we come! OK, genie. I’m going to go for that car now. ‘Genie. I wish I had a brand new Aston Martin sports car’.

Genie: Your wish is granted.

Jack: Look! It’s over there in the car park.

Rich: One more wish for me. OK, I think I need a holiday. How about a long beach holiday in Mauritius. ‘Genie! I want to be on holiday’.

Genie: Your wish is granted.

Rowan: Where did he go?

Jack: Mauritius I imagine. Right, I’ve been thinking about this and I’d be over the moon if I got the chance to play for England.

Genie: Your wish is granted.

Rowan: How’s that work? (mobile ringing) Yes. Oh, hello. Yes, he’s here. Yes … It’s for you. It’s er … Gareth Southgate - the England manager.

Jack: Hello … yes … brilliant … looking forward to it. I’ve made the England squad.

Rowan: You’d better wish for a bit more talent!

Jack: Genie! I wish for the best right foot in world football.

Genie: Your wish is granted.

Rowan: Here you go.

Jack: Look at that! Top corner! Right, time for my last wish. World peace, the end of world hunger … I’ll leave those to you coach. ‘Genie I wish to be on a beach in the Caribbean.’

Genie: Your wish is granted.

Rowan: Just me left. ‘OK, genie, let’s start with world peace’ I wish for everyone to be happy.’

Genie: Your wish is granted.

Rowan: And I wish for no one to be hungry.

Genie: Your wish is granted.

Rowan: One wish left for me. What’s my greatest ever wish. Well, it’s to take this little team all the way to the Premier League. Mmm … how can I do that?

Rowan: ‘Genie! I want those two back on the training pitch after lunch!’

Language Focus

Rich: Before the roleplay, we asked you two questions.

Jack: The first question was: What did the players wish for?

Rowan: Well, the first player wished to be good at football, wished for a new sports car and a fantastic holiday. The second player wished for an England cap, wished to be good at football and another fantastic holiday.

Rich: The second question was: What did the manager wish for?

Jack: She wished for world peace, to end world hunger and to take her small village football team all the way to the Premier League.

Rowan: In the roleplay, we spoke a lot about wishes. Let’s look at some of the language we use to make wishes and to speak about wishes.

Rich: Let’s start by talking about wishes for the present. When the genie appeared, the footballers wished for some very specific things.

Jack: One of the footballers wished for a car and they both wished for a holiday.

Rich: Wish for is a phrasal verb. When I was a boy I’d always wish for a new bicycle but I usually got books.

Rowan: So, when you really really want something to happen you wish for it to happen.

Jack: In the roleplay, we were speaking to a genie and our wishes could come true so you heard sentences like ‘I wish to be on a beach in the Caribbean’

Rich: The genie was able to grant our wishes - to make them come true. Normally, this won’t happen so we use the past tense to talk about things in the present we would like to change or wish were different

Rowan: I wish I was on a beach in the Caribbean. He wishes he was better at football.

Jack: When we use I, he, she or it we can use was or were. We can say I wish I were on a beach in the Caribbean. He wishes he were better at football.

Rich: We often use if only to mean the same as wish.  I wish I wasn’t so busy. If only I wasn’t so busy. I wish I weren’t so busy. If only I weren’t so busy.

Rowan: Of course, we don’t only use the verb to be when we are speaking about wishes. One of the footballers said:  I wish I had a new car.

Jack: Other examples could be: I wish I lived somewhere hot. I wish my football team played better football. If only I worked closer to home.

Rich: Another common way to make a wish is to use could. I wish I could fly. I wish I could see my friends. I wish I could play in the Premier League.

Rowan: We’ve been looking at wishes to change things now - to change things in the present but we also sometimes wish we could change things in the past.

Jack: In the roleplay, you heard one of the footballers saying I wish I hadn’t missed that chance in the first half and I’m starting to wish I’d never joined this club.

Rich: When we are talking about a wish in the past we use the past perfect. The footballer missed the chance last Saturday and wishes he hadn’t missed it now. He wishes he hadn’t missed that chance.

Jack: We’re speaking about changing something that has already happened. Here are some other examples:

Rowan: I wish I had studied more at school. I bet they wish they hadn’t gone out in the rain. They’re soaking wet.

Rich: We can also use if only to talk about past wishes:

Jack: If only I had gone to bed earlier last night. I’m so tired.

Rowan: Finally, let’s look at how we talk about wishes in the future. We use could and would to talk about wishes in the future.

Rich: We can say things like: I wish I could go on holiday next week or I bet he wishes he could change clubs. He’s always on the bench.

Jack: Or we can use would: I wish she would try harder in class or I wish this horrible weather would go away.

Rowan: OK, so there are some examples of how we speak about wishes in the past, present and future.

Rich: We have more examples and activities for you to look at on the Premier Skills English website. Just look for this lesson on the homepage or in the listen section. It’s called Understanding Grammar: Wishes.

Task

Jack: In this week’s task, we are going to give you three wishes.

Rowan: Where’s the genie?

Genie: I am the genie of the cup and I grant you three wishes.

Rich: That’s better. So, you have three wishes. We want you to write your wishes in the comments section at the bottom of the page on the Premier Skills English website.

Jack: We want you to write about one wish connected to the past, one wish connected to the present and one wish connected to the future.

Rowan: Think about the grammar you should use. Listen to the language focus section again if you’re not sure or take a look on the lesson page.

Rich: If you write your wish correctly...

Genie: your wish is granted.

Football Phrase 

Rowan: Who’s got this week’s football phrase. I did it last week.

Rich: I’ve got it. Here we go. This week’s football phrase is ****** ****** *****. I’m hearing and seeing this phrase all the time at the moment. The phrase is used to describe a match that is played without any fans. The stadium is not open. The match is played ****** ****** *****.

Jack: Is that it? Short and sweet. Let’s see who can get it right? Before we leave you we also need to tell you last week’s football phrase. The answer was to throw in the towel.

Rowan: Right, that’s all we have time for this week! Don’t forget to write your answers to our questions and make a guess at our football phrase in the comments below. If you get it right, we’ll announce your name on next week’s show.

Rich: If you have any questions or comments or suggestions for the podcast or anything football or English related, you can leave them on the website in the comments section, on social media, on apple podcasts or you can email us at premierskills@britishcouncil.org.

Jack: Bye for now and enjoy your football!