I wish… and should have…
ምነው… እና …ነበረብኝ
Express wishes about the present and regrets about the past.
How it works
Use wish and if only to talk about things you would like to be different.
የተለየ እንዲሆኑ ስለምንመኛቸው ነገሮች ለመናገር wish እና if only እንጠቀማለን።
Present: wish + past simple → I wish I had more time. (I don't have enough.)
አሁን፦ ምነው ተጨማሪ ጊዜ ቢኖረኝ።
Past regret: wish + past perfect → I wish I had studied harder. (I didn't.)
ያለፈ ጸጸት፦ ምነው ጠንክሬ ባጠና ኖሮ።
Annoyance: wish + would → I wish you would stop talking.
ብስጭት፦ ምነው ማውራትህን ብታቆም።
should have + past participle = past regret: I should have saved money.
ገንዘብ መቆጠብ ነበረብኝ።
In formal English, use were for every person: I wish I were taller.
በመደበኛ እንግሊዝኛ ለሁሉም were ይጠቀሙ፦ I wish I were taller።
Examples
Listen, then tap the microphone to record yourself and compare. Your voice stays on your phone.
I wish I had more time to read.
ምነው ለማንበብ ተጨማሪ ጊዜ ቢኖረኝ።
I wish I had studied harder at school.
ምነው ትምህርት ቤት ሳለሁ ጠንክሬ ባጠና ኖሮ።
If only I had listened to my mother!
ምነው እናቴን ብሰማ ኖሮ!
I wish you would stop interrupting me.
ምነው ማቋረጥህን ብታቆም።
I should have saved more money.
ተጨማሪ ገንዘብ መቆጠብ ነበረብኝ።
She wishes she lived closer to her parents.
ለወላጆቿ ቅርብ ብትኖር ትመኛለች።