# I wish I would have tried harder



## starbrst02

Come si tradurre:

"I wish I would have tried harder"  
(Ho provato con questo:  Spero che io provassi fare piu'.)

Anche, con questa domanda, quando si usa l'infinito invece del verbo?  Per esempio:  Spero di vincere la partita--> I hope to win the game.
Si puo anche dire?: Spero che io vinco la partita.


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## MAVERIK

My translation :

"Avrei voluto provare a fare di più" .

" Spero che io vinca la partita "


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## erick

MAVERIK said:
			
		

> " Spero che io vinca la partita "



Maverik, would «Spero di vincere la partita» also work?


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## MAVERIK

erick said:
			
		

> Maverik, would «Spero di vincere la partita» also work?


 
Yes, it also works


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## sweet_cate

starbrst02 said:
			
		

> Come si tradurre:
> 
> "I wish I would have tried harder"
> (Ho provato con questo: Spero che io provassi fare piu'.)
> 
> Anche, con questa domanda, quando si usa l'infinito invece del verbo? Per esempio: Spero di vincere la partita--> I hope to win the game.
> Si puo anche dire?: Spero che io vinco la partita.


 


> Si puo anche dire?: Spero che io vinco la partita.


 
Se parli o scrivi così ti fai capire, ma non è un buon italiano.

Se esprimi un desiderio, un bisogno o una volontà di fare qualche azione devi sempre usare il verbo all'infinito.

- spero di mangiare bene stasera.

- mi auguro di passare una bella serata.

- voglio andare al mare quest'estate.

- desidero imparare meglio l'inglese.


Se ti può esser do aiuto pensa al verbo che useresti in inglese con la formula "I' d like .........." dove ci va sempre il vostro verbo corrispondente al nostro infinito.


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## sweet_cate

starbrst02 said:
			
		

> Come si tradurre:
> 
> "I wish I would have tried harder"
> (Ho provato con questo: Spero che io provassi fare piu'.)
> 
> Anche, con questa domanda, quando si usa l'infinito invece del verbo? Per esempio: Spero di vincere la partita--> I hope to win the game.
> Si puo anche dire?: Spero che io vinco la partita.


 
La tua frase all'inizio è una delle più difficili per me da tradurre dall'italiano all'inglese.

Perchè in italiano corrisponde per me a:

"Mi sarebbe piaciuto / avrei dovuto insistere di più".

E traducendo con "mi sarebbe piaciuto" io automaticamente cercherei di formulare la frase iniziando con "I'd like to" e non con:

Il verbo WISH + il trapassato prossimo 

Questo tipo di costruzione della frase non mi viene in mente facilmente.

Non so perchè.

Prova:
I wish I would have tried harder.


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## erick

sweet_cate said:
			
		

> I wish I would have tried harder.


Ciao Cate.  Credo che sia più comune dire "I wish I'd tried harder" o "I wish I had tried harder" invece di "I wish I would have tried harder," una frase un po' "wordy."  Cioè, una frase construita da troppe parole.


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## Paulfromitaly

Scusa Erick, ma "I wish I would have tried harder" non è sbagliato?
non dovrebbe essere solamente "I wish I had tried harder" in questo contesto?


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## erick

Paulfromitaly said:
			
		

> "I wish I would have tried harder" non è sbagliato?
> non dovrebbe essere solamente "I wish I had tried harder" in questo contesto?


Paul, non sono _sicuro_ che sia sbagliato (vediamo se un madrelingua inglese può confirmare o spiegare meglio), ma almeno direi che suona male.  Per "first person singular" non userei "I wish I would have."  Per second/third person si può dire per esempio, "I wish you would have (would've) told me that the meeting was canceled before I drove across town to attend it."


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## sweet_cate

erick said:
			
		

> Ciao Cate. Credo che sia più comune dire "I wish I'd tried harder" o "I wish I had tried harder" invece di "I wish I would have tried harder," una frase un po' "wordy." Cioè, una frase construita da troppe parole.


 
Ciao erick e grazie.

Provo adesso a memorizzare quest'altra formula che mi stai consigliando tu.

I wish I'd tried harder.

Ma ti assicuro che non è facile per me.


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## silvietta

sweet_cate said:
			
		

> Se parli o scrivi così ti fai capire, ma non è un buon italiano.
> 
> Se esprimi un desiderio, un bisogno o una volontà di fare qualche azione devi sempre usare il verbo all'infinito.
> 
> - spero di mangiare bene stasera.
> 
> - mi auguro di passare una bella serata.
> 
> - voglio andare al mare quest'estate.
> 
> - desidero imparare meglio l'inglese.
> 
> 
> Se ti può esser do aiuto pensa al verbo che useresti in inglese con la formula "I' d like .........." dove ci va sempre il vostro verbo corrispondente al nostro infinito.


 
Ciao a tutti,
spiegazione perfetta, vorrei fare solo una piccola precisazione.
Nel caso in cui il soggetto della proposizione principale e della secondaria coincidano si usa l'infinito
es:io voglio/desidero/mi auguro di.... vincere la partita di questa sera
     noi vogliamo vincere la partita...

Nel caso in cui i due soggetti non coincidano si usa il congiuntivo
es.: io voglio che Luca vinca la partita questa sera
noi vorremmo che Giovanna venisse al mare con noi

Silvietta


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## Bex78

Paulfromitaly said:
			
		

> Scusa Erick, ma "I wish I would have tried harder" non è sbagliato?
> non dovrebbe essere solamente "I wish I had tried harder" in questo contesto?


 

Ciao!!!
anch'io mi ricordo qualcosa del tipo che con _wish_ non si usa il _would_ , ma il passato ...


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## GavinW

erick said:
			
		

> Paul, non sono _sicuro_ che sia sbagliato (vediamo se un madrelingua inglese può confirmare o spiegare meglio), ma almeno direi che suona male. Per "first person singular" non userei "I wish I would have." Per second/third person si può dire per esempio, "I wish you would have (would've) told me that the meeting was canceled before I drove across town to attend it."


 
I believe there's a US/BR split on grammar on this construction.

1) BrE and USE: I wish I'd tried harder
2) USE (only): I wish I would have tried harder

I've frequently heard 2), with its "excessive" use of "would", but only from the lips and pens of US people. Over the years I've come to believe it's a US variant.

PS: Another translation suggestion: "Se solo avessi provato di più"


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## lsp

GavinW said:
			
		

> I believe there's a US/BR split on grammar on this construction.
> 
> 1) BrE and USE: I wish I'd tried harder
> 2) USE (only): I wish I would have tried harder
> 
> I've frequently heard 2), with its "excessive" use of "would", but only from the lips and pens of US people. Over the years I've come to believe it's a US variant.
> 
> PS: Another translation suggestion: "Se solo avessi provato di più"


Agree (I would have used "would have," myself). E stavo per dire anche: magari se avessi provato di più. (Siamo sulla stessa lunghezza d'onda - si dice così anche in italiano??)


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## Elisa68

lsp said:
			
		

> Agree (I would have used "would have," myself). E stavo per dire anche: magari se avessi provato di più. (Siamo sulla stessa lunghezza d'onda - si dice così anche in italiano??)


Sì, si dice così.


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## Alfry

lsp said:
			
		

> Agree (I would have used "would have," myself). E stavo per dire anche: magari se avessi provato di più. (Siamo sulla stessa lunghezza d'onda - si dice così anche in italiano??)


 
It would be better if you swapped magari with se.

"se magari ci avessi provato di più" but I would expect something more after, something like:

"se magari ci avessi provato di più ci sarei riuscita" 

Anyway the first thing to come to my mind was Gawin's PS: "Se solo ci avessi provato di più/con più impegno"


PS. yes, siamo sulla stessa lunghezza d'onda is perfect


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## lsp

Grazie A&E, due persone che sono spesso sulla mia stessa lunghezza d'onda.


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## Sheila25

GavinW said:
			
		

> I believe there's a US/BR split on grammar on this construction.
> 
> 1) BrE and USE: I wish I'd tried harder
> 2) USE (only): I wish I would have tried harder
> 
> I've frequently heard 2), with its "excessive" use of "would", but only from the lips and pens of US people. Over the years I've come to believe it's a US variant.
> 
> PS: Another translation suggestion: "Se solo avessi provato di più"



"I wish I _would have_" is becoming increasingly common in the UK too - a result I expect of the influence of US TV!  and irritates me nearly as much as "the Government are ..." !!!


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## Jana337

starbrst02 said:
			
		

> Come si tradurre traduce:
> 
> "I wish I would have tried harder"
> (Ho provato con questo:  Spero che io provassi fare piu'.)
> 
> Anche, con questa domanda, quando si usa l'infinito invece del verbo?  Per esempio:  Spero di vincere la partita--> I hope to win the game.
> Si puo anche dire?: Spero che io vinco la partita.


Starbrst, please do not write to unrelated questions in one thread next time. Here are our rules. 

Jana


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## utente

Sheila25 said:
			
		

> "I wish I _would have_" is becoming increasingly common in the UK too - a result I expect of the influence of US TV! and irritates me nearly as much as "the Government are ..." !!!


 
Ciao Sheila-

I always thought that the British say:

the Government are...
General Motors are...
Microsoft are...

and that Americans say:

the government is...
General Motors is...
Microsoft is...

Are you saying the opposite?

--Steven


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## Sheila25

YES definitely.  I may have assumed that "are" was another US import.  I am delighted if you are telling me, Utente, that in the US _"the government is"_ is commonly used.  

I think the problem is the assumption that, being a group of people/things (government, General Motors, Microsoft), the plural should be used, confused too by the use of the plural after _"people" _which appears to be singular but always takes a plural verb.


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## utente

Sheila--

Definitely the plural is BE, not AE, when referring to corporations. It always sounds wrong to me (the plural), but I see it as lift vs. elevator or braces vs. suspenders .

--Steven


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## lsp

Sheila25 said:
			
		

> YES definitely.  I may have assumed that "are" was another US import.  I am delighted if you are telling me, Utente, that in the US _"the government is"_ is commonly used.
> 
> I think the problem is the assumption that, being a group of people/things (government, General Motors, Microsoft), the plural should be used, confused too by the use of the plural after _"people" _which appears to be singular but always takes a plural verb.


Several discussions of this in English Only seemed to conclude just the opposite, that is, BrE treats words like family and government as plural and AmE does not. Anyway, a google fight yields 27 million for "the government is" and only 112 for "the government are" (both in quotes, as shown),


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## TrentinaNE

> I've frequently heard 2), with its "excessive" use of "would", but only from the lips and pens of US people. Over the years I've come to believe it's a US variant.


It may be a more common error in the U.S.  However, even on this side of the pond, _I wish I had..._ is grammatically correct while _I wish I would have..._ is not. Here's a site that explains the unreal past.

Saluti,
Elisabetta


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## starbrst02

Despite how I worded my sentence, my main question is how one would form such a phrase, like the one I have given, when the subjects are the same in a sentence (using il congiuntivo) but the times are different.  IE:  I wish NOW that I had tried harder THEN.


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## TrentinaNE

Ciao, starbrst. I find the "I wish..." construction in English to a tough one to translate literally to Italian. It might be more common to say something like _Mi dispiace che io non abbia provato più_. (I'm sorry that I didn't try harder.) Or perhaps it should be _Mi dispiace di non aver provato più_ to follow the general rule that you don't use the subjunctive when the subject is the same in the secondary clause. But I'm surmising here, and will look forward to a more definitive answer from our native Italian friends!

Elisabetta


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## lsp

starbrst02 said:
			
		

> Despite how I worded my sentence, my main question is how one would form such a phrase, like the one I have given, when the subjects are the same in a sentence (using il congiuntivo) but the times are different.  IE:  I wish NOW that I had tried harder THEN.


Except for some side conversation about the English, there were several suggestions in reply to your initial question. Are none of the posts by maverick, gavin, alfry, etc. helpful?


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## starbrst02

No no no, don't get me wrong. The responses to my original translation were most helpful. Now I am just trying to figure out if there is any rule that I could use for next time. For example, if I wanted to use il congiuntivo of the present (rather than l'indicativo) paired with an expression/wish/sentiment of the past, BUT BOTH INVOLVE THE SAME SUBJECT, how should I construct my sentence? For example:
-I think I made a mistake.
-I'm sorry I was late.
-I wish I had known.

Or is it just easier to reconstruct the sentence without "Penso che" or "Spero che" etc.  So to say:
-I'm sorry I was late---> Mi dispiace per essere stato in ritardo.
-I wish I had known---> Magari se sapevo.


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## lsp

starbrst02 said:
			
		

> ...
> -I'm sorry I was late---> Mi dispiace per essere stato in ritardo.
> -I wish I had known---> Magari se sapevo.


Grammar rules are not my strong suit, so I'll just point out that it needs to be _Magari se sapessi _in your last line.


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## erick

TrentinaNE said:
			
		

> It may be a more common error in the U.S.  However, even on this side of the pond, _I wish I had..._ is grammatically correct while _I wish I would have..._ is not. Here's a site that explains the unreal past.


 Elisabetta, thank you for this useful grammar resource, I've bookmarked the site.

Cate, the site clearly explains the grammar rules that I attempted to lay out yesterday:

The verb _*to wish*_

The verb to wish is followed by an 'unreal' past tense when we want to talk about situations in the present that we are not happy about but cannot change:
• _I wish I had_ more money (=but I haven't)
• She wishes she was beautiful (= but she's not)
• We wish we could come to your party (but we can't)

Rest of the explanation can be found here: http://www.edufind.com/English/grammar/IF10.cfm


NB: In accordance with this rule, the original sentence should have been "I wish I had tried harder," rather than "I wish I would have tried harder".

By this rule you can say, "I wish you would've tried harder" (past) or "I wish you would try harder" (present).

I hope that clarifies it a bit. Thank Elisabetta for the good explanation!



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## TrentinaNE

> "Se solo ci avessi provato di più/con più impegno"


The English meaning I associate with this construction is "If only I had tried harder," which sounds lamentative (wailing and gnashing of teeth  ). Instead, "I wish I had tried harder" can be a simple statement of fact. Does the Italian sentence above apply in both situations, with tone of voice indicating how much regret lies behind the words?

Saluti,
Elisabetta


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## sweet_cate

erick said:
			
		

> Elisabetta, thank you for this useful grammar resource, I've bookmarked the site.
> 
> Cate, the site clearly explains the grammar rules that I attempted to lay out yesterday:
> 
> The verb _*to wish*_
> 
> The verb to wish is followed by an 'unreal' past tense when we want to talk about situations in the present that we are not happy about but cannot change:
> • _I wish I had_ more money (=but I haven't)
> • She wishes she was beautiful (= but she's not)
> • We wish we could come to your party (but we can't)
> 
> [Please see website linked above for rest of text]
> By this rule you can say, "I wish you would've tried harder" (past) or "I wish you would try harder" (present).
> 
> I hope that clarifies it a bit. Thank Elisabetta for the good explanation!


 

This is a very usuful and generous post indeed erick.

Cercherò di "grave it" into my mind.  

I thank you so much, and Elisabetta too.

Bye Erick.


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