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Slide to the left! Wish clauses with the past simple, could and were

This B2 ESL lesson plan teaches wish clauses and if only through the Cha Cha Slide, the Chicago line dance whose song calls out its own steps.

Grammar
Wish and if only + past simple, could or were for wishes about now (I wish I knew the steps.), with tips on hope vs wish and on wish + would.
Topic
How a workout routine from Chicago became a favorite at weddings, proms and ballgames, with words such as slide, stomp, catch on and viral.
Activities
An explainer to read, a ballgame dialogue and a teenager's voice memo to hear, self-checking drills, a party chat and boxes about why dances catch on.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Warm-up: everybody on the floor!

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words: dances that travelVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and choose the wordChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: from a sheet of paper to the ballpark

    • Look at the photo: everybody slidesPictureUnlock
    • Read Leona's explainer on The Why DeskArticleUnlock
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Match the paragraphs and the headingsMatchUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: no, Isaiah, your other left

    • Listen to Leona and Isaiah at the ballgameListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to the Reader's Rebuttal: Mabel's voice memoListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: If only I knew the steps

    • Study the scheme: wishes about nowGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the correct optionChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: use the words in bracketsFill in the gapsTry it
    • Fill in the table: turn the truth into a wishFill in the tableUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: what's true, and what's correct?QuizUnlock
    • Put the words in the correct orderUnjumbleUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: wishes on the dance floor

    • Choose the right replies: wishes at a partyChatTry it
    • Open a box and answer: simple steps or a big push?Open the boxUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Unscramble the wordsAnagramUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps with the lesson's wordsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Find the matching pairs: words and meaningsMemory gameUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: new sentencesChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: use the words in bracketsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: which wish fits?QuizUnlock
    • Fill in the table: start your wish with If onlyFill in the tableUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: Carla's commentChoose the optionUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: Isaiah answers MabelDrag and dropUnlock

33 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Dance vocabulary

12 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+9 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • catch on
  • call out
  • scare away
  • viral
  • line dance
  • aerobics
  • ballpark
  • clumsy
  • fitness trainer

Grammar: wish and if only for wishes about now

A wish about now says the opposite of the truth, and the verb after wish steps one tense back: I wish I knew the steps means I don't know them. A song that calls out every move, danced by crowds who still go the wrong way, gives learners plenty to wish for. They use a past form for a present wish, with could for abilities and were for be.

I wish I could dance. If only I knew the steps!

Use wish or if only + a past form to talk about now. The wish is the opposite of the truth: I wish I knew = I don't know.

From the truth to the wish

Start from the truth and flip it: I don't know the steps → I wish I knew the steps. I stomp too hard → I wish I didn't stomp so hard. Can't becomes could: I can't slide like that → I wish I could slide like that.

From the truth to the wish

The truth nowThe wishForm after wish / if only
I don't know the steps.I wish I knew the steps.past simple: knew
I can't slide like that.I wish I could slide like that.could + base form: could slide
It isn't Saturday.I wish it were Saturday.were for every person (was is fine too)
I'm so clumsy.If only I weren't so clumsy!weren't: the opposite of the truth (wasn't is fine too)
I stomp too hard.I wish I didn't stomp so hard.didn't + base form: didn't stomp
Isaiah has no data.He wishes he had the data.past simple: had
We have to leave early.If only we didn't have to leave early!didn't have to + base form

A past form, a wish about now

The verb looks past, but the wish is about now: I wish I knew the steps = I don't know them now. If only means the same but is stronger, and it often ends with !: If only I could slide like that! Behind every wish is the opposite truth: I wish I could dance → I can't dance.

Every person, and were or was

The form after wish is the same for every person, though wish itself takes -es after he or she: Leona wishes she knew the moves. Were is the classic form for every person (I wish it were Saturday), and was is also correct, especially in speech.

Every person

Personpast simplecould + base formwere
II wish I knew the steps.I wish I could slide.I wish I were taller. (was)
youI wish you knew the steps.I wish you could come.I wish you were here.
heIsaiah wishes he had his laptop.He wishes he could slide.He wishes he were at home. (was)
sheLeona wishes she knew the moves.She wishes she could dance.She wishes she weren't so clumsy. (wasn't)
itI wish it (the song) lasted longer.I wish it could last all night.I wish it were longer. (was)
weWe wish we lived closer.We wish we could stay.We wish we were in the front row.
theyThey wish they knew the steps.They wish they could join in.They wish they were better dancers.

were or was?

After wish and if only, were is the classic form for every person: I wish it were Saturday. Leona wishes she weren't so clumsy. Was is also correct, especially in speech: I wish it was Saturday.

If only, and wish + would

If only takes the same forms but sounds stronger, and it often ends with an exclamation mark: If only people knew which way left was! Keep would for someone else's annoying habit: I wish you would stop stomping! Not If only I would know.

wish + would: for annoying habits

When another person keeps doing something that annoys you, use wish + someone + would: I wish you would stop stomping! Don't use would about yourself or with states like know and have: not “If only I would know”, but “If only I knew”.

At the ballgame and in the voice memo

  • Oh, I wish I could dance like those kids in the front row.
  • I wish this crowd knew the steps.
  • If only people knew which way left was!
  • Sorry! I wish I weren't so clumsy.
  • You always wish you had the data.
  • Honestly, I wish more songs were this simple.

Hope or wish, and common mistakes

Hope is for what's possible: I hope I can dance at the party. The clause after wish never takes a present tense: I wish I could dance, not I wish I can; I wish I knew, not I wish I know. For right now, had known is wrong.

hope or wish?

Hope is for things that are possible: I hope I can dance at the party (maybe I can). Wish is for things that are not true now: I wish I could dance (I can't). Not: I wish I can dance.

Common mistakes

  • I wish I can dance like that.

    I wish I could dance like that.

    can → could after wish

  • I wish I know the steps.

    I wish I knew the steps.

    a past form for a wish about now

  • If only I would know the moves!

    If only I knew the moves!

    no would with know

  • I wish I had known the steps right now.

    I wish I knew the steps right now.

    about now: past simple, not had + past participle

More lessons on this grammar: Third and mixed conditionals lessons and exercises

Try the wish and if only exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 19 auto-checked exercises
  • 5 games
  • 1 article
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 2 audio clips
  • 2 pictures
  • 2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • turn a present truth into a wish with the past simple: I don't know the steps. → I wish I knew the steps.
  • wish for an ability with could: Oh, I wish I could dance like those kids in the front row.
  • use were and negative wishes with didn't: Sorry! I wish I weren't so clumsy. She wishes she didn't stomp so hard.
  • make a stronger wish with If only…!: If only the crowd knew the moves right now!
  • answer a friend at a party with wishes of your own: Lucky you! I wish I were there.

Lesson 18 is the second lesson of Pop culture goes global, unit 5 of English B2.1 · How the World Works. It reuses the idea behind the second conditional of B1.2 lessons 1 and 2, where a past form such as If I were you talked about now. Lesson 19 takes wish into the past with had + past participle. A dance that crowds love but can't quite follow is a natural home for I wish I knew the steps.

Students spin a wheel of questions about dancing, parties and viral songs, then learn twelve words, from slide, stomp and join in to ballpark and fitness trainer, with pictures and audio. They read Leona's explainer on how a workout routine went global, then hear Leona and Isaiah disagree at a ballgame in Pittsburgh and Mabel, a high school senior from Illinois, argue that simple is the point; both are AI-voiced. The grammar chapter has the scheme and five self-checking exercises, among them a table that turns each truth into a wish. In the speaking chapter, students answer Zane's messages from a party and open boxes about why dances catch on.

All ten homework tasks check themselves: a word match, an anagram, gaps with the dance words and a memory game, then forms to choose and wishes to build in new sentences, a quiz on which wish fits, a table of If only wishes, a fitness trainer's comment with options and Isaiah's reply to Mabel with words to drag in.

Grammar:
wish · if only · wish + past simple · wish + could · wishes about the present
Topic:
the Cha Cha Slide · DJ Casper · Chicago · line dances · how trends spread · pop culture · The Why Desk

Teaching tips

  • Write the truth above the wish: I can't slide. / I wish I could slide. Students notice that the wish says the opposite and that the verb moves one step back.
  • Play the ballgame dialogue twice: first for who wants what, then for every wish and if only. Students write each wish next to the truth behind it.
  • Ask what makes a dance catch on before the explainer. Students list their reasons, then read to see which ones the Cha Cha Slide's story supports: simple steps, radio or DJs.
  • Accept was in speech: I wish it was Saturday is correct too. Show were as the classic form, and save your corrections for I wish I can and I wish I know.

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The whole course: English B2.1 · How the World Works

32 lessons for adults at B2 in American English, each answering one question about how the world works. The team of The Why Desk, a small online magazine in Pittsburgh, takes on one question a week, from the day a computer beat the world chess champion to eight people sealed inside Biosphere 2. Learners tell stories with narrative tenses, speculate about the past and the future, and report what experts claim. The practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 AI and the future of work

    narrative tenses, by and until, be bound to and be likely to, the future perfect

    1. Lesson 1Checkmate: the day a computer beat the championNarrative tenses: past simple, past continuous and past perfect
    2. Lesson 2The robot car that crossed the desertTime prepositions: by, until, within, throughout, in time and on time
    3. Lesson 3Can a chatbot fool you?Probability about the future: be bound to, be likely to, the chances are
    4. Lesson 4By 2035, what will AI have designed?The future perfect simple: will have + past participle

  2. Unit 2 Health breakthroughs

    the third conditional, the past perfect and past continuous passive, have something done, the passive with two objects

    1. Lesson 5The moldy melon that changed medicineThe third conditional: if + had done, would have done
    2. Lesson 61.8 million Polio PioneersThe past perfect passive and the past continuous passive
    3. Lesson 7One clinic, many doctorsHave / get something done
    4. Lesson 8A kidney from a twinThe passive with two objects

  3. Unit 3 Moving people

    the past perfect continuous, the passive infinitive and -ing form, it's worth and there's no point, the future in the past

    1. Lesson 9Six years to the golden spikeThe past perfect continuous vs the past perfect simple
    2. Lesson 10Riding a pod with no driverThe passive infinitive and the passive -ing form
    3. Lesson 11The town that painted bike lanes firstIt's worth, there's no point and it's no use + -ing
    4. Lesson 12The highways that were supposed to take 13 yearsThe future in the past

  4. Unit 4 Wildlife comebacks

    reporting verbs with a that clause, with an object and infinitive and with -ing, verbs of perception

    1. Lesson 13Did wolves really change Yellowstone's rivers?Reporting verbs + that clause
    2. Lesson 14Bringing a parrot back from the edgeReporting verbs + object + (not) to + base form
    3. Lesson 15The beavers that came by parachuteReporting verbs + -ing and verb + preposition + -ing
    4. Lesson 16Fifteen bison take the trainVerbs of perception + object + base form or -ing

  5. Unit 5 Pop culture goes global

    comment adverbs, wish and if only for the present and the past, have someone do and get someone to do

    1. Lesson 17The party that started hip hopComment adverbs: apparently, supposedly, undoubtedly
    2. Lesson 18 · you're hereSlide to the left!Wish and if only for wishes about now
    3. Lesson 19If only they'd kept SupermanWish and if only + past perfect for regrets
    4. Lesson 20The hit factory on West Grand BoulevardCausative have and get: have someone do, get someone to do

  6. Unit 6 Money and smart choices

    -ever words and no matter, should have and could have, prepositions for numbers and change, it's time and would rather

    1. Lesson 21The bank that never closed-ever words and no matter
    2. Lesson 22One marshmallow now or two later?Should have, shouldn't have and could have
    3. Lesson 23Benjamin Franklin's 200-year giftPrepositions for numbers and change
    4. Lesson 24Why buy a drill you'll use once?It's (high) time and would rather + past simple

  7. Unit 7 Language and communication

    must have, might have and can't have, verb prefixes and suffixes, past modals in continuous and passive forms, agreement with quantities

    1. Lesson 25How did one man write down a language?Past modals of deduction: must have, might have, can't have
    2. Lesson 26Why do Americans write “color”?Verb prefixes and suffixes: misspell, rewrite, simplify, shorten
    3. Lesson 27The joke that needed a smileyPast modals in continuous and passive forms
    4. Lesson 28Can preschoolers save a language?Subject-verb agreement with quantities and collective nouns

  8. Unit 8 Exploring the extremes

    dimension nouns, the future continuous and future perfect continuous, compound adjectives, only, even and just

    1. Lesson 29A walk on the ocean floorDimension nouns and phrases: depth, width, height
    2. Lesson 30Six months of night at the South PoleThe future continuous and the future perfect continuous
    3. Lesson 31Flying on pedal powerCompound adjectives with numbers and participles
    4. Lesson 32Two years under glassFocus adverbs: only, even, just and at all

Questions about this lesson

What are wish clauses?
A wish clause follows wish and describes something that isn't true, with a past form for a wish about now. I wish I knew the steps means I don't know them; I wish I could dance like that means I can't. The verb looks past, but the time is the present. The B2 lesson Slide to the left! on edio.ai teaches wish clauses with a line dance that crowds love and still get wrong.
How do you use if only?
If only works like I wish but sounds stronger, so it often ends with an exclamation mark: If only the crowd knew the moves right now! It takes the same forms, the past simple, could + base form or were: If only I weren't so clumsy! If only we didn't have to leave early! In Slide to the left! on edio.ai, a homework table asks students to start each wish with If only.
What are some examples of wish clauses?
Six from Slide to the left! on edio.ai: I wish I could dance like those kids in the front row. I wish this crowd knew the steps. If only people knew which way left was! I wish I weren't so clumsy. You always wish you had the data. Honestly, I wish more songs were this simple. Behind each one is the opposite truth: the speaker can't dance, the crowd doesn't know the steps.
What's the difference between wish and hope?
Hope is for things that may happen; wish is for things that aren't true. I hope I can dance at the party means maybe I can. I wish I could dance means I can't. So hope takes the present or will, while wish takes a past form. The scheme in Slide to the left! on edio.ai has a tip on this pair, next to one on wish + would for annoying habits.
Is it “I wish I can” or “I wish I could”?
It's I wish I could: after wish, can moves back to could. Other verbs move back too: I wish I knew, not I wish I know, and If only I knew the moves, not If only I would know. And for a wish about right now, I wish I had known is wrong: that form looks back at the past. These four slips are the common mistakes in Slide to the left! on edio.ai.
Who made the Cha Cha Slide?
DJ Casper, a DJ from Chicago, made it in the late 1990s; most sources say 1998. It began as an exercise routine for his nephew's aerobics class, written on a piece of paper, with no music yet. The band version most people know came out in 2000, and in March 2004 the song reached No. 1 in the UK. Leona's explainer in Slide to the left! on edio.ai follows how it spread.
How do I teach wish and if only to B2 students?
Begin with true sentences about the students: what they can't do, don't have or don't know. Then flip each one into a wish and point out the step back in tense, and add if only as the stronger version. Slide to the left! on edio.ai follows the same path: Leona's explainer and a dialogue at a ballgame, then the scheme, a table that turns truths into wishes and four more drills.
What's a good game for practicing wish clauses?
Play “Genie”: one student is the genie, and the others each make a complaint, such as My phone is so old. The genie only listens when the complaint becomes a correct wish: I wish my phone weren't so old. For speaking, the boxes in Slide to the left! on edio.ai ask for three wishes about music, dance or parties, starting with I wish I could…, I wish I knew… and If only…
What's good homework for wish clauses?
Good homework starts from a situation, not a form: You don't have a ticket for the concert. Which wish fits? Then come gaps with the verb in brackets and a short text to complete. All ten homework tasks in Slide to the left! on edio.ai check themselves, including a fitness trainer's comment with wishes to choose and Isaiah's reply to Mabel.
How do you practice wish clauses one-to-one?
Trade three complaints about the week, then turn each other's complaints into wishes: I wish I didn't have to work on Saturday. Ask what would change if the wish came true. The chat in Slide to the left! on edio.ai works without a partner: Zane is at a family party where the DJ plays line dances, and the student answers with replies like I wish I were there.
Are there interactive exercises for wish and if only?
Yes. This page plays three parts of Slide to the left!, a B2 lesson on edio.ai, with no account: Leona's evening at a ballgame with Isaiah, a gap-fill that builds wishes from words in brackets and a chat with a friend at a party. Other parts need an account.
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