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Unreal
pasts and subjunctives
Exercise
1 Put the verbs in brackets
into the correct forms.
1
It’s just struck midnight. It’s
high time we (leave)!
2
If only we (have) a phone! I’m
tired of queuing outside the public phone box.
3
You (have) better take off your wet
shoes.
4
He walks as if he (have) a wooden
leg.
5
He talks as if he (do) all the work
himself, but in fact Tom and I did most of it.
6
Father: I’ve supported you all
through university. Now I think it’s time you (begin) to support
yourself.
7
I wish I (know), what is wrong with
my car.
8
It looks like rain; you (have)
better take a coat.
9
I wish I (ask) the fishmonger to
clean these fish. (I’m sorry I didn’t ask him.)
10
It’s time we (do) something to
stop road accidents.
11
The cheese looks as if rats (nibble)
it.
12
It’s high time they (mend) this
road.
13
He always talks as though he
(address) a public meeting.
14
He treats us as if we (be) all
idiots.
15
Wife: I’d like to get a job.
Husband: I’d
much rather you (stay) at home and (look) after the house.
16
If you (tie) the boat up it wouldn’t have drifted away.
17
I wish you (not give) him my phone
number. (I'm sorry you gave it to him.)
18
If only he (know) then that the
disease was curable!
19
Suppose you (not know) where your next meal was coming from?
20 You talk as
though it (be) a small thing to leave your country for ever.
21
I hate driving. I’d much rather you (drive).
22
If only I (be) insured! ‘But I
wasn’t insured.)
23
If you (not take) those photographs
we wouldn’t have been arrested.
24
I wish transistor radios never (be)
invented.
25
If only I (keep) my mouth
shut! (I said something which made matters much worse.)
26
I’ll pay you by cheque monthly.
-
I’d rather you (pay) me cash weekly.
27
I said ‘Sunday’.
-
I wish you (not say) Sunday. We’ll never be ready by then.
28
But I told you what to do.
-
I know you did. If only I (take) your advice!
29
A flower pot fell off the balcony on to the head of a man who
was standing below. It was most unfortunate that he happened to be
standing just there. If he (stand) a foot to the right or left he’d
have been unharmed.
30
That man has brought us nothing but trouble. I wish I never (set)
eyes on him.
31
Can I take your best umbrella?
-
I’d rather you (take) the other one.
32
If you (have) a peep hole in your door you would have seen who was
standing outside and kept the door shut.
33
I wish I (not try) to repair it. I only made it worse.
34
If I (not have) rubber gloves on I would have been
electrocuted.
35
He looks as though he never (get) a square meal, but in fact his wife
feeds him very well.
Exercise
2 Answer the following
questions by expressing a preference for a different action.
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Question: Can
I write my essay on the back of an envelope?
Possible
answer: I’d rather you wrote it on a sheet of foolscap.
Similarly:
Can we bring
our pet snake to your party?
I’d
rather you didn’t or I’d rather you left it at home.
It would also
of course be possible to answer with prefer + object +
infinitive:
I’d
prefer you to write it on' foolscap.
I’d
prefer you to leave it at home.
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Use you in all
answers.
Student
1
Can I go by bus?
2
Can I go alone?
3
Can we start tomorrow?
4
Can I ring New York on your phone?
5
Can we sleep in the garden tonight?
6
Can we cook our steak by holding it
in front of your electric fire?
7
Can we use your scissors to cut
this wire?
8
Can I leave school at sixteen?
9
Can we come in late tomorrow?
10
Shall I wake you up when I come in
and tell you what happened?
11
Can I clean my motorcycle in the
kitchen?
12
Can I tell Tom what you’ve just
told me?
13
Can I go barefoot?
14
Can I have a snake tattooed round
my ankle?
15
Shall we paint your door pink with
yellow stars?
16
Shall I ring you at 3 a.m.?
17
Shall I threaten to burn down his
house?
18
Can we bathe after dark?
19
Can I park my helicopter on the
roof of your house?
20
Can I put the goldfish in the bath?
21
Can we hitch-hike to Rome?
22
Can I borrow your best umbrella?
23
Will it be all right if I write it
in longhand?
24
Can I leave the washing up till the
day after tomorrow?
Exercise
3 Rewrite the following using a
wish construction (phrases in brackets should be omitted).
1
I’m sorry I haven’t got a
washing machine.
2
I’m sorry I don’t live near my
work.
3
I’m sorry our garden doesn’t
get any sun.
4
I’m sorry I called him a liar.
5
I’m sorry I don’t know Finnish.
6
I’m sorry I didn’t book a seat.
7
I’m sorry I haven’t got a car.
8
I’m sorrv I can’t drive.
9
I’d like Tom to drive more
slowly (but I haven’t any great hopes
of this).
10
I’d like you to keep
quiet. (You ’re making so much noise
that I can’t think.)
11
I’m sorry we accepted the
invitation.
12
I’m sorry that theatre tickets
cost so much.
13
It’s a pity that shops here shut
on Saturday afternoon.
14
It’s a pity he didn’t work
harder during the term.
15
I’m sorry you didn’t see it.
16
It’s a pity you are going
tonight.
17
It’s a pity I haven’t got a
work permit.
18
I would like it to stop raining
(but I’m not very hopeful).
19
I’d like you to wait for
me (even though you are ready to start
now).
20
I’m sorry I didn’t bring a map.
21
I’m sorry I ever came to this
country.
22
I’m sorry I left my last job.
23
I’m sorry I didn’t stay in my
last job.
24
I’d like him to cut his hair (but
I don’t suppose he will).
25
I’d like him to stop smoking in
bed (but I haven't any great hopes).
26
I’m sorry he goes to bed so late.
27
Motorist in fog: It’s a pity we
don’t know where we are.
28
It’s a pity we haven’t a torch.
29
I’m sorry I didn’t know you
were coming.
30
I’m sorry you told Jack.
31
I’m sorry I didn’t ask the
fishmonger to open these oysters.
32
I’m sorry I can’t swim.
33
I’m sorry you aren’t coming
with us.
34
I’m
sorry you aren’t going to a job where you could use your English.
35
It’s a pity you didn’t ask him
how to get there.
36
I
would like every country to stop killing whales (but
have no real hope
of this).
Students
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Answers
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Exercise 1
1 left 2 had 3 had 4 had 5 had done 6 began 7 knew 8 had 9 had
asked 10 did 11 had nibbled/had been nibbling 12 mended 13 were
addressing 14 were 15 stayed, looked 16 had tied 17 hadn’t given
18 had known 19 didn’t know 20 were 21 drove 22 had been 23 had
not taken 24 had never been 25 had kept 26 paid 27
had not said 28 had taken 29
had been standing 30 had never set 31
took 32 had/had had 33
had not tried 34 had not had 35
got
Exercise 2
(The following are possible answers, but not the only possible
answers. All the answers will begin: I’d rather you. We are
therefore only giving the other half of each sentence.)
I
went by train 2 went with
someone/took someone with you 3 started today 4 rang on your own
phone/used your own phone 5 slept in the house 6 cooked it under
the grill 7 cut it with a knife/with your own scissors 8 stayed on
a bit longer 9 came in in time 10 waited till morning 11 cleaned
it in the garage 12 said nothing 13 wore shoes 14 didn’t 15
painted it blue, and without any decorations 16 rang at 7
a.m. 17 didn’t threaten him at all 18 bathed during the day/in
daylight 19 parked it in the playing field 20 put them in the
goldfish bowl 21 went by train 22 borrowed the other one 23 typed
it 24 did it today
Exercise 3
(All the answers begin I wish; the words I wish will therefore
not be given.)
1
I had
a washing machine 2 I lived nearer my work 3 our garden got some
sun 4 I hadn’t called him a liar 5 I knew Finnish 6 I had booked
a seat 7 I had a car 81 could drive 9 Tom would drive more
slowly/Tom drove 10 you would keep quiet 11 we hadn’t accepted
12 theatre tickets didn’t cost 13 shops here didn’t
shut 14 he had worked 15 you had seen it 16 you weren’t going 17
I had a permit 18 it would stop 19 you would wait 20 I had brought
a map 21 I had never come 22 I hadn’t
left 23 I had stayed 24 he would cut 25 he would stop 26 he went
to bed earlier/didn’t go so late 27 we knew where we were 28 we
had 29 I had known 30 you hadn’t told 31 I had asked 32 I could
swim 33 you were coming 34 you were going to a job 35 you had
asked him 36 every country would stop
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