Hope / wish explained.

Hello, everyone.
How to use hope and wish can be a bit confusing, so I've prepared a table for you that I hope will help clarify things.
Let me know what you think.
Tom.

Hopes & wishes:

We use wish / if only for imaginary situations, and things we don’t think are going to happen. (Usually translated as ojalá.)

Present / future:

States = wish + past simple

I wish/ If only you loved me, Marilyn. (But Marilyn loves Clark Gable.)

Actions = wish + past continuous

I wish / If only you were playing for us next week, Lionel. (But Lionel’s playing for El Barça.)

I wish / if only we were lying on the beach.(But we’re stuck in English class.)

Abilities = Wish + could + infinitive

I wish / if only I could fly.  (But you have to waste your money on Ryanair.)

Complaining  / or when you want people or things to change = wish + would + infinitive

I wish / if only he wouldn’t teach us so much grammar. (But he does.)

I wish / if only you’d stop smoking. (But I don’t think you will.)

TIP: We can’t use would to talk about ourselves.

We use hope for things we want to happen in the future.

Hope + clause ( Subject + verb + …)

I hope I pass my exams. (And I might.)

I hope they enjoy their trip to Paris. (And they probably will.)

TIP: We use hope instead of wish / if only when we feel something is more likely to happen.