When should we use 'wish' or 'hope'?
chienkf
'Wish' and 'hope' are two common words in English with related meanings. In this programme, Finn and Wang Fei explore the differences between these two words.
It's Finn's birthday and he has invited some of his Chinese friends to eat Sichuanese food with him.
During the programme he receives several text messages from them in Chinese. Wang Fei and Finn then translate them into English, deciding whether to use 'wish' or 'hope' and explaining why.
Here are some of the messages. Can you work out whether to use 'wish' or 'hope'?
Finn hopes to eat some Sichuanese food on his birthday
希望能参加你的生日聚会。
我很想去参加你的聚会，但是我那天太忙。
祝你生日快乐！
If you have a question you would like to ask our team, email us at questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk.
We might produce a programme about your question.
听力原文
Wish and Hope 的区别
Finn: Hello Wang Fei.
Wang Fei: Hi Finn. Actually isn't it your birthday next week?
Finn: It is! I've just sent out invitations to my friends.
Wang Fei: Finn 下个星期要开一个生日聚会，并且发了很多邀请 invitations 给朋友们。
Finn: I have. I'm just waiting for them to text me back.
Wang Fei: Finn正在等朋友们text him 给他回短信呢。我们等短信的时候，先来听一听今天的问题。 今天的问题来自KFChien. 它想知道英语中 hope 和 wish 的区别。
Finn: Yes, it can be confusing. When do we use wish and when do we use hope...?
Insert
Text message sound
Finn: Oh, there's my phone.
Wang Fei: A text message?
Finn: Yes, from one of my friends. Actually, it's in Chinese – can you read it?
Wang Fei: “希望能参加你的生日聚会。杨莉。”
Finn: Oh, from Yang Li. 希望能参加你的生日聚会。So how would you say that in English?
Wang Fei: I hope I can come to your birthday party.
Finn: Yes, 'hope' isn't it. So here we should use 'hope', not 'wish'. I hope she can come too.
2
Wang Fei: 这个很简单嘛，希望做某事就要用hope. By the way, where are you going for your birthday?
Finn: Well, I want to eat Sichuanese food – 川菜…
Insert
Text message sound
Finn: Oh, I got another text.
Wang Fei: "我很想去参加你的聚会，但是我那天太忙。 晓辉。"
Finn: 晓辉来不了。 But how about this time – should it be wish or hope?
Wang Fei: 应该是 I wish I could come to your birthday party, but I'm busy that day. Wish, 是“很想、但愿”的意思。
Finn: Yes, wish. I wish I could come. Why do we use wish this time?
Wang Fei: 我想想。我觉得区别就在于：在第一个句子里“希望能参加你的生日聚会。”– 杨莉是说她可能来参加你的生日聚会，所以要用hope. 但是在第二条短信里，尽管晓辉很想来，但是不能来。所以当人们表达很想做某事，但是做不了的时候，就要用wish.
Finn: Yes, this is one major difference to remember. So, for example, if I said 但愿你能在这里 what would it be?
Wang Fei: I wish you were here. 现实情况是你不在这里。
Finn: And how about 我希望你周五能来？
Wang Fei: I hope he comes on Friday.
Insert
Text message sound
Finn: Ah, there's my phone again. Let me read this one. It's from Feifei. Here we are. 祝你生日快乐。
Wang Fei: 祝你生日快乐。
Finn: So this time would we use wish or hope?
Wang Fei: I would use wish – I wish you a happy birthday.
Finn: Very good! I wish you a happy birthday.
Wang Fei: Wish 在这里和前边的用法有所不同了。这里的wish 是“祝愿”的意思。如果我们想表达一种祝愿，我们就要用wish.
3
Finn: So, for example: 祝你一路顺风！
Wang Fei:I wish you a pleasant trip.
Finn:祝你圣诞快乐！
Wang Fei:I wish you a Merry Christmas.
Finn:祝你新年快乐！
Wang Fei:I wish you a Happy New Year.
Finn:You know Wang Fei, I often hear Chinese people say 'I wish you to have a happy birthday'.
Wang Fei:是的，这是一个常见错误。Wish 后边不能再加一个动词或者不定式短语了。
Finn:Yes, all we need to say is I wish you a happy birthday, and not I wish you to have a happy birthday…
Insert
Text message sound
Finn: Oh, one more text. It's from Derm in English this time. Here it is. "I can't come but I hope you have a great birthday, mate."
Wang Fei:Mate 就是“哥们”的意思。Derm 说 “我不能去，但是我希望你生日快乐。”这一次，我们用 hope, 因为Derm希望Finn 生日过得开心。这是极有可能发生的事情，所以我们要用hope. Hope 后面可以跟一个句子。I hope you have a great birthday.
Finn:"I can't come but I hope you have a great birthday, mate." You know, Wang Fei, it doesn't look like many people can come… So it might be just you and me! Do you fancy some川菜?
Wang Fei:Well, I wish I could come… no only kidding, of course I can! 辣子鸡、水煮鱼…
Finn: 还有鱼香肉丝! Very good! Well, thanks again to KF Chien for their question. If you have any questions about the English language, please email us at: chinaelt@bbc.co.uk. We hope to hear from you soon!
Both:Bye!