Question
Updated on
30 Jul 2021
- Spanish (Chile)
-
English (US)
-
English (UK)
-
German
Question about English (UK)
Are these sentences correct?
Are there any differences?
I wish we could have talked more yesterday.
I wish we had talked more yesterday .
Are these sentences correct?
Are there any differences?
I wish we could have talked more yesterday.
I wish we had talked more yesterday .
Are there any differences?
I wish we could have talked more yesterday.
I wish we had talked more yesterday .
Answers
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- English (UK)
There is a slight difference in meaning.
- I wish we could have talked more yesterday.
This implies something happened that meant you couldn’t talk for as long as you wanted. Maybe one of you had to leave, or you were interrupted.
- I wish we had talked more yesterday.
This just means you wish you had talked longer (for whatever reason). Maybe you were interrupted, or maybe you just got home and realised there were more things you wanted to say.
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- English (UK)
They are both grammatically correct. The first suggests that something prevented you talking more. The second suggests that either one of you could have made the effort to talk more, but didn't for some reason. But the differences are very subtle and only obvious when you read the two sentences side by side. As part of a paragraph, context will be more important.
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- Spanish (Chile)
- English (UK)
The first sentence is fine. The second sentence is just verbosity for the sake of it, and isn't grammatical - I've heard people say it, but it's just plain wrong, with contradictory tenses.
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- Spanish (Chile)
- English (UK)
They both are correct and sound natural. They have a slightly different meaning.
The first expresses a frustration that something stopped them from being able to talk more, maybe time constraints or somebody else appeared. This one feels lighter in its tone/mood.
Example: “I wish we could have talked more yesterday, but I had to get to work.”
“I wish we could have… but we couldn’t because…”
The second expresses a frustration maybe more about the people not saying what they wanted/needed to say. A more emotional block than the first sentence. There is more to say abd a sadness that they didn’t say it. It has more emotional importance.
Example: “I wish we had talked more yesterday. I didn’t explain the whole situation.”
“I wish we had… but we didn’t because…”
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