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Start, stop, continue: wish and if only for team retrospectives

Retro notes become wish and if only sentences, for regrets and wanted changes, in this B2 English for IT lesson plan on team retrospectives.

Grammar
Wish + past simple for now, + past perfect for regrets (I wish we had tested it), + would for others' habits, + could for abilities, and if only with the same forms.
Topic
A sprint retrospective after a release, in the start, stop, continue format, with check-in, dot voting and the Prime Directive.
Activities
The story of the Prime Directive, the team's retro board, a talk after the retro, self-checking drills, a chat, role cards, a written summary and a recorded retro opening and close.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Warm-up: What Went Well?

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and talk about looking back at workSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words for running a retroVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and choose the wordChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2The Story: The Prime Directive

    • Read the story of the Prime DirectiveArticleUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer about the storyQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3At Work: The Offline Refunds Retro

    • Read the mobile team's retro boardReal-life documentTry it
    • True or false? Check the retro boardTrue or falseUnlock
    • Choose the fair and useful sticky noteQuizUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Listen: Three Actions and a Bit of Feedback

    • Listen to Iryna and Wes after the retroListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer about the conversationQuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Grammar: I Wish We Had…

    • Study the scheme: wish and if onlyGrammar schemeTry it
    • Sort the wishes into the correct columnsSort into columnsUnlock
    • Choose the correct form: present or past wishChoose the optionTry it
    • Choose the correct sentenceQuizUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: turn the retro notes into wishesFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps in Iryna's retro summaryFill in the gapsUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Speak Up: Lead the Retro

    • Choose the right replies to your tech leadChatTry it
    • Open a box: role cards for the retroOpen the boxUnlock

  7. Chapter 7Homework: Your Retro Summary

    • Read your phrase bankReal-life documentUnlock
    • Do you remember? Choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Is the sentence correct? True or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Match the words and their meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Write a retro summary for your teamWriting, checked by the teacherUnlock
    • Record yourself opening and closing a retroSpeaking, checked by the teacherUnlock

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

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

  • a check-in
  • a safe space
  • dot voting
  • a theme
  • a regret
  • the Prime Directive
  • speak up
  • follow through
  • call out

Grammar: wish and if only for wishes and regrets

Wish moves the verb one step back in time, much as conditionals do: a wish about now takes the past simple, and a regret about the past takes the past perfect. On a team's retro board after a release, learners turn complaints into wishes about the process, add would and could, and use if only when the feeling is stronger.

wish and if only: wishes and regrets

Use wish when you want something to be different. The verb after wish moves one step back in time.

Now or before now?

Now takes wish + past simple: I wish we had more test phones. Before now takes the past perfect: I wish we had tested with battery saver on. Had alone is about today; had + a past participle is about the past.

MeaningFormExample
A present situation you want to be differentwish + past simple (were for be)I wish we had more test phones.
A past regretwish + past perfect (had + past participle)I wish we had tested with battery saver on.
Someone or something else's habit that you want to changewish + would + verbI wish the alerts would wait until the morning.
An ability you don't havewish + could + verbI wish I could watch merchants use the app.
A stronger feelingIf only + the same formsIf only we had known earlier!

Would for habits, could for abilities

Would is for someone or something else you want to change: I wish the alerts would wait until the morning. It never goes with I, know or have, so say I wish I knew. Could is for an ability: I wish I could watch merchants use the app.

Now or before now?

Ask when the situation is. Now → past simple (I wish we had…). Before now → past perfect (I wish we had tested…). Use would only for other people or things you want to change: not for yourself (not “I wish I would…”) and not with know or have. After wish, careful English uses were for every person (I wish it were earlier); was is common in speech.

If only: the same forms, a stronger feeling

If only takes the same forms as wish but sounds stronger, and it often ends with an exclamation mark: If only we had known a few days earlier! A past regret still needs the past perfect: If only we hadn't released before support knew, not If only we didn't release.

  • I wish we had tested with battery saver on before the release.a past regret
  • I wish my team could try new features before merchants do.an ability
  • I wish they would wait until the morning.a habit of the alerts
  • I wish I hadn't talked for so long at the start.a past regret
  • If only we had known a few days earlier!a stronger feeling about the past
  • I wish I could give feedback like that.an ability

Wish or hope?

Will never follows wish: I wish you would join the next retro, not I wish you will. For something that may really happen, use hope with a normal tense: I hope you'll join. A present wish still steps back: I wish we had more time, not I wish we have.

  • I wish we have more time for testing.

    I wish we had more time for testing.

    A present wish: past simple, not present.

  • I wish I would know the answer.

    I wish I knew the answer.

    No would with I, or with state verbs like know and have.

  • If only we didn't release before support knew.

    If only we hadn't released before support knew.

    A past regret: past perfect.

  • I wish you will join the next retro.

    I wish you would join the next retro.

    Never will after wish. For a real hope, say: I hope you'll join.

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.

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What's in the lesson

  • 14 auto-checked exercises
  • 2 games
  • 2 teacher-checked tasks
  • 2 real-life documents
  • 1 article
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 1 audio clip
  • 1 picture
  • 1 transcript

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • wish about the present with the past simple: I wish we had more test phones. I wish the retro were in the morning.
  • voice a regret with the past perfect: I wish I had called it out in the standup. If only we had known earlier!
  • use would for a habit you want changed and could for an ability: I wish the alerts would wait until the morning.
  • lead a retro, from the check-in and the Prime Directive to three actions with one owner each: Let's vote on the top three.

Lesson 24 ends unit 8, Growing your career, on feedback, retrospectives and goals, and with it English for IT B2 · Beyond the Code. Its regrets reuse the past perfect of the third conditional from lesson 9 (If we had had an alert…). As the unit's third lesson, it carries the unit's task: lead a retro, give SBI feedback from lesson 23 and agree on three actions.

The warm-up spins a wheel of questions about looking back, then sets out twelve retro words with pictures and audio, such as timekeeper and dot voting. The story is Norm Kerth's 2001 Prime Directive for retrospectives, with Start, Stop, Continue as a popular format. Then comes the mobile team's retro board, with true-or-false statements and a choice of fair, useful sticky notes, and an AI-voiced talk in which the facilitator and the timekeeper write up three actions. The scheme is followed by five drills that check each answer, from sorting wishes into four columns to a retro summary with gaps. In the speaking chapter, students answer the tech lead in a chat, then run a retro with role cards.

Homework opens with a phrase bank. A quiz and a true-or-false check revisit the unit's grammar, from took it on to suggested explaining and wish, and a word match ends the self-checking part. Students write a retro summary with at least four wishes and three actions and record the opening and close of a retro they lead; both go to the teacher.

Grammar:
wish · if only
Topic:
retrospectives · feedback · team habits

Teaching tips

  • Run a mini retro on the course itself: learners write one sticky note each for start, stop and continue about their English classes, using at least one I wish or If only.
  • Hunt the wishes on the retro board: pairs underline every wish and if only and label each one now, past regret, someone's habit or ability, before they see the scheme.
  • Rewrite blaming notes together: put I wish Diego would stop complaining on the board and ask the group to turn it into a note about the process, as the sticky-note quiz does.
  • Let a one-to-one learner run the retro: you take one or two role cards, and the learner leads the check-in, the vote and the three actions, then closes with SBI feedback for you.

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The whole course: English for IT B2 · Beyond the Code

24 lessons at B2 for software teams, in American English. A year on at Kestrel Cloud, a fictional payments startup, Iryna and her team estimate work, write docs and postmortems, argue trade-offs, give demos and negotiate scope. Each lesson starts from a real case, from the Apollo 11 alarms to Conway's law.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Planning and estimates

    estimates and deadlines: approximating numbers, the future continuous and perfect, likelihood

    1. Lesson 1It always takes longerApproximating numbers in estimates
    2. Lesson 2By New Year's Eve, we'll have fixed itFuture continuous and future perfect
    3. Lesson 3Let's play planning pokerLikelihood with bound to, likely to and may well

  2. Unit 2 Docs people read

    specs and design docs: modals for requirements, participle clauses, plain English

    1. Lesson 4MUST, SHOULD or MAY?Modal verbs for requirements in specs
    2. Lesson 5Four kinds of docsParticiple clauses in documentation
    3. Lesson 6Just a request for commentsPlain English for design docs

  3. Unit 3 Incidents and postmortems

    telling an incident without blame: narrative tenses, the passive, the third conditional

    1. Lesson 7The 1202 alarmNarrative tenses for incident stories
    2. Lesson 8Blameless by designActive vs passive voice in a postmortem
    3. Lesson 9If we had had an alert…The third conditional: a different past

  4. Unit 4 Architecture and trade-offs

    comparing options and recording decisions: contrast linkers, modals of deduction, mixed conditionals

    1. Lesson 10Your system copies your org chartContrast linkers for comparing options
    2. Lesson 11It's always DNSModals of deduction for troubleshooting
    3. Lesson 12Write down the whyMixed conditionals for looking back on decisions

  5. Unit 5 Demos and tech talks

    a clear structure on stage: signposting, cleft sentences, describing trends

    1. Lesson 13The mother of all demosSignposting language for demos
    2. Lesson 1420 slides, 15 secondsCleft sentences for emphasis
    3. Lesson 15Numbers that tell a storyDescribing graphs and trends

  6. Unit 6 Stakeholders and scope

    saying no and finding yes: diplomatic language, as long as and unless, negotiating

    1. Lesson 16Pay down the debtDiplomatic language for hard messages
    2. Lesson 17Why meetings argue about the bike shedAs long as, provided, unless and otherwise
    3. Lesson 18Yes, if…Negotiating language for scope and deadlines

  7. Unit 7 AI, security and ethics

    AI tools, passwords and team rules: be used to and get used to, past modals of deduction, purpose linkers

    1. Lesson 19Your new pair programmerUsed to, be used to and get used to
    2. Lesson 20Change your password? Maybe notPast modals of deduction
    3. Lesson 21Rules for AI at workPurpose linkers for rules with a reason

  8. Unit 8 Growing your career

    feedback, retros and goals: phrasal verbs, reporting verbs, wish and if only

    1. Lesson 22Your next levelCareer phrasal verbs and goal frames
    2. Lesson 23Feedback that helpsReporting verbs and their patterns
    3. Lesson 24 · you're hereStart, stop, continueWish and if only for wishes and regrets

Questions about this lesson

How do you use I wish in English?
Use I wish for something you want to be different, with the verb one step back in time: I wish we had more test phones (now), I wish we had tested it (the past), I wish the alerts would stop (someone else's habit), I wish I could read the iOS code (an ability). A drill in Start, stop, continue on edio.ai sorts wishes into these four columns.
How do you use if only?
If only works like I wish but expresses a stronger feeling, often with an exclamation mark: If only someone had told support! If only I had asked for help sooner! It takes the same forms: the past simple for now (If only we had more time!), the past perfect for a regret, and would or could for habits and abilities. An if only sentence can stand alone, with no second half.
What tense comes after wish?
After wish, the verb moves one tense back: a present situation takes the past simple, and a past regret takes the past perfect. We don't have enough phones becomes I wish we had more phones; we didn't test it becomes I wish we had tested it. Would and could cover habits and abilities, and will never follows wish. With be, careful English uses were for every person (I wish it were earlier); was is common in speech.
Is "I wish I had" about the present or the past?
I wish I had can be about either the present or the past, depending on what follows. I wish I had more time is about now: had is the past simple of have. I wish I had asked for help sooner is a past regret: had + past participle is the past perfect. In the negative: I wish I hadn't talked so long. A drill on this page, from Start, stop, continue on edio.ai, mixes both kinds.
What's the difference between wish and if only?
The grammar is the same; if only is just stronger. I wish we had told support earlier is a calm regret; If only we had told support earlier! sounds more emotional and usually stands alone as an exclamation. Wish changes with the subject and tense (he wishes…, she wished…), while if only never changes. Both take the past simple for now and the past perfect for regrets.
Is it "I wish I would know" or "I wish I knew"?
It's I wish I knew, in the past simple: would after wish is for other people or things you want to change, never for yourself, and never with know or have. So it's I wish I knew the sync code better, but I wish people would update their tickets. A quiz in Start, stop, continue, a B2 English for IT lesson on edio.ai, offers I wish I would know as a wrong answer.
What's the difference between I hope and I wish?
Hope is for real chances; wish is for unreal ones. I hope you'll join the next retro means you might. I wish you would join means you usually don't, and I'd like that to change. Hope takes a normal tense, often will; wish never does, so I wish you will join is wrong. The same goes for the past: I hope it went well, but I wish it had gone better.
What is a retrospective at work?
A retrospective, or retro, is a meeting where a team looks back to improve. Norm Kerth wrote about reviews after a whole project in 2001; agile teams later made the retro a habit at the end of every sprint. A good one ends with a few actions, each with one owner. Useful phrases: What went well? What should we stop doing? Let's vote on the top three. Who'd like to own this one?
What is a start, stop, continue retrospective?
Start, stop, continue is a retro format with three columns: what the team should begin doing, what it should end and what works and should stay. Each person writes one idea per sticky note, the team groups similar notes into themes, and a dot vote picks the ones to act on. Good notes target the process: Start: let's call out risks in the standup. The mobile team's board in Start, stop, continue on edio.ai has this shape.
What is the Prime Directive in a retrospective?
The Prime Directive is the retro rule that everyone did their best with what they knew, their skills, their resources and the situation at the time. Norm Kerth set it out in his 2001 book on project retrospectives, and some teams read it aloud before every retro. It doesn't hide mistakes; it moves the question from Who made the mistake? to How can we change the way we work? In your own words: We assume everyone did their best.
How do I teach wish and if only to B2 adults?
Start from real complaints and turn them into wishes: The alerts woke me up again becomes I wish the alerts would wait until the morning. Sort the results by time, now or before now, then add would and could. Keep the wishes about the process, not people, which a retro makes natural. Start, stop, continue, a B2 English for IT lesson on edio.ai, turns retro notes into wishes in two gap-fills.
Are there interactive exercises for wish and if only?
Yes: form-choice drills and chats that check every wish give feedback at once. Four parts of Start, stop, continue, a B2 English for IT lesson on edio.ai, play on this page without an account: the mobile team's retro board, a talk in which the facilitator and the timekeeper write up three actions, a choice between present and past wishes, and a chat with the tech lead before the retro. The other exercises stay locked.
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