後悔If and when
I wish I had…
Say you wish you'd done something differently, and tell it apart from its look-alike: being glad you did.
Start with a puzzle
Who has an umbrella right now?
It's pouring. Two people say almost the same thing.
First speaker
傘を持ってくればよかった。Kasa o motte kureba yokatta.Second speaker
傘を持ってきてよかった。Kasa o motte kite yokatta.How it's built
Literally: “it would have been good if…”
The thing that didn't happen
傘を持ってくればKasa o motte kurebaIf I had brought an umbrella…
How you feel about it now
よかったYokatta…that would have been good.
Make your own
Pick a verb to see how it changes
Every verb follows one of three patterns.
I wish I had gone.
Swap the final -u sound for -e, then add -ba.
Going further
More ways to look back
Oh, I wish I'd brought an umbrella.
ああ and なあ make it sound like you're thinking out loud.
I wish I hadn't said that.
Make the verb negative to regret something you did.
I should have booked the hotel ahead of time.
~ておけば regrets a step you skipped while preparing.
You should have come earlier.
Adding のに turns it outward, toward someone else, and can sound like a reproach.
My sister wishes she'd bought a ticket.
For someone else's regret, report it with と思っている.
Put it together
I wish I had bought the ticket yesterday.
Find the mistake
Tap the part that's wrong.
、。
Say it yourself
A shop you never tried
The ramen shop your friend kept recommending has just closed for good. You never went. What do you say?
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