Using wish/help

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Using wish/help
Message from mohammad51 posted on 23-10-2020 at 19:10:09 (D | E | F)
Hello
Please help me or correct me
Thank you in advance
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Use wish :
I must do all the housework.
I wish ...............

Mostly with wishes it goes against what in fact previously said or suggested
Example I don't have a car.
I wish that I had a car = expressing my wishes in the present time
With have to simply it can be changed to didn't have to
I have to work on Sunday. I wish I ..didn't..... have to work on Sunday.
How is it with " must " ?
We know there is no past of must
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If I say I wish I (must or mustn't) do all the housework. ( no change ) it seems to me not common
If I changed to have to ( negative ) I wish I didn't have to do all the housework ?
So why : I see it is a matter of obligation
The one answer I see it works well is :
I wish I could do all the housework.
OR: is it possible to use ( had to ) ?
What do you say ?
Thank you in advance

Re: Using wish/help from gerondif, posted on 23-10-2020 at 19:41:49 (D | E)
Hello
If somebody sees the housework he has to do as a sort of punishment and wishes to complain about it, he will say :
I wish I didn't have to do all the housework.
It will be understood as : I wish she wouldn't /didn't force me to do all the housework.

You are right :
I must hurry up . obligation.
I had to hurry up. obligation.
I mustn't cheat. interdiction, something forbidden.
I didn't have to cheat : ah, problem ! it means I was in no obligation to cheat, nobody forced me to cheat. It doesn't mean I was forbidden to cheat.
so, how to express an obligation in the past and in the negative form ?
I was forbidden to cheat. I was prevented from cheating, I was barred from cheating, I couldn't cheat, I wasn't allowed to cheat. Use whatever tool you can to express it differently.

However, when you say I wish...., everybody understands that you are complaining against something, so :
I wish I didn't have to do all the housework will be understood as I wish she didn't force me to do all the housework, I wish I weren't forced to do all the housework.

If you take a sentence like :
The school is closed today, so I don't have to go to school (I needn't go to school), you can't put I wish (expressing a regret or a wish for something else) in front of a verb expressing that you are happy not to be forced to do something.

I wish I could do all the housework is a regret from somebody who wishes he or she could do more.
I'm sorry, I wish I could do all the housework but I'll only be here for an hour and your house needs at least three hours of housework to be clean.

Now, in some cases where the verb doesn't have the past tense required, sometimes, the English will keep the present tense.
Look at this dialogue between a, b, and c.
a)(to b) You mustn't help me !
b) What did she say ? I didn't get it.
c)(to b) She said you mustn't help her.(she forbade you to help her)

She said you didn't have to help her = She allowed you not to help her.

I wish I didn't have to help her all the time : With I wish, we understand that she forces you to help her all the time.

Re: Using wish/help from mohammad51, posted on 23-10-2020 at 21:11:16 (D | E)
Hello
Thank you very much dear teacher gerondif

Your explanation is good enough.
In the last four lines your examples are so much practical
a)(to b) You mustn't help me !
b) What did she say ? I didn't get it.
c)(to b) She said you mustn't help her.(she forbade you to help her)

She said you didn't have to help her = She allowed you not to help her.

I wish I didn't have to help her all the time : With I wish, we understand that she forces you to help her all the time.
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Yes, but also I want to add something:

1. For have to : the obligation comes outside ( it is not the speaker opinion)
2. For ( must ) the obligation is the speaker's opinion
( i.e. it doesn't come outside though it seems to most learners the opposite
Example : I must do my homework. = it is my duty to do ( I who do the action)
it is not dedicated on me to do or not to do.
Suppose ( I will not do the homework ) Can any one force me to do it?
I understand it in this way
So, I see to use ( I wish I did not have to do all the housework ) instead of must is still ambiguous on my part.
Is it correct to say "I wish I could do all the housework " ?
I noticed you said " regret " and I agree with you.
Many thanks dear teacher
Perhaps you reply again and make it more clear.

Re: Using wish/help from gerondif, posted on 23-10-2020 at 23:08:30 (D | E)
Hello
Is it correct to say "I wish I could do all the housework " ? No, not in the meaning you have in mind.

Could can replace must in the preterite in the negative in such sentences as.

"You mustn't come to the party, Sam !" Jenny said.
Jenny told Sam that he couldn't / shouldn't / had better not / wasn't allowed to / wasn't to / go to the party.
Jenny told that that he mustn't go to the party can be used as there is something missing in English here. Better a mistake in the tense than a mistake in the meaning.

You could sort of cheat this way.
Oh, I see you must do all the housework
Yes, I wish I didn't !

Re: Using wish/help from mohammad51, posted on 23-10-2020 at 23:51:14 (D | E)
Hello
So the correct answer is
I wish I didn't have to do all the housework.
Isn't it ?
Thank you very much

Re: Using wish/help from gerondif, posted on 24-10-2020 at 00:00:33 (D | E)
Yes.

Re: Using wish/help from dmendoza, posted on 09-11-2020 at 16:55:16 (D | E)
Hello,
Wish + (that) + past simple:
We can use 'wish' to talk about something that we would like to be different in the present or the future. It's used for things which are impossible or very unlikely.

I wish that I had a big house (I don't have a big house, but it's a nice idea!).
I wish that we didn't need to work today (we do need to work today, unfortunately).
I wish that you lived close by (you don't live close by).
I wish that John wasn't busy tomorrow* (he is busy, unfortunately).

Link

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Edited by lucile83 on 09-11-2020 18:13
Grey

Re: Using wish/help from lalianne, posted on 10-11-2020 at 03:20:42 (D | E)
Hello,
Yes, but also I want to add something:

1. For have to : the obligation comes outside ( it is not the speaker opinion)
2. For ( must ) the obligation is the speaker's opinion
( i.e. it doesn't come outside though it seems to most learners the opposite
Example : I must do my homework. = it is my duty to do ( I who do the action)
it is not dedicated on me to do or not to do.
Suppose ( I will not do the homework ) Can any one force me to do it?

Not necessarily. Sometimes with 'have to' the obligation can come from inside (the speaker's opinion). And sometimes it can come from outside obligation.
Examples:
I must do my homework. = it is my duty
I have to do my homework = someone is forcing me to do my homework OR I view doing it as an obligation / duty. I make myself do my homework.

I had to finish reading the chapter in my book before I could go do other things.
= I have a compulsion / self-imposed obligation to finish the chapter before doing other things. I don't like to stop reading in the middle of chapters.

Susan says to Jill: "Phew, sorry I'm late! I got lost and had to use a map to find the café!"
= She found a solution to the problem. She needed to use a map to solve the problem.

Jill says to Susan: "It's ok. Look! I have to try the coffee!"
= Jill is excited to try the coffee.
In this context, you can say 'I have to try the coffee!' or "I have got to try the coffee!" for the same meaning.

Re: Using wish/help from gerondif, posted on 15-11-2020 at 14:46:59 (D | E)
Hello
We used to be taught this :
Must : personal obligation:
I must watch this good film tonight. Nobody is forcing you, you do it on your own free will.
have to : outside obligation :
I have to revise for tomorrow's text : Outside pressure from your parents, the teachers, the school.
have got to : outside and unexpected obligation.
I can't go to your party tonight because I've got to babysit. My parents just told me a minute ago.

But the difference between I've got and I've got to is not known or respected or used depending on the country.

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