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LESSON 18

Lesson I wish upon a star

Sentence structure review

We looked at sentence structure in level one, so let’s look at it again. Before, we saw this sentence
You are young.
Remember, these are the parts of the sentence:
Subject: you
Verb: are
Complement: young
You are young.
S V C
This kind of sentence means this: You = young

This is the other kind of sentence structure we saw before.

We speak English.
Subject: We
Verb: speak
Object: English.

The subject does something with the object. They are not the same.

These are short sentences, but some sentences are longer. Before, we saw sentences like these:
He likes apples but he doesn’t like bananas.
He likes apples and he makes apple pies.
He likes apples, so he often eats them.
Remember—but, and, so are connecting words. They join two sentences to make one sentence.
Each part of the sentence is called a clause. The most important part of the sentence is called
the main clause. It is sometimes called an independent clause. It can stand on its own and it is
complete.
We can say
He likes apples.
He makes apple pies.
Those are two main clauses.

This is the sentence we saw a little while ago:

He likes apples and he makes apple pies.
Now we have one sentence, but we also have two clauses.
He likes apples + he makes apple pies.
This is like adding 2 + 2, except the answer is 1! This is called a compound sentence, because it
includes two main clauses. You can break the sentence apart and have two complete sentences.
He likes apples and he makes apple pies.
He likes apples. He makes apple pies.

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Now, we have also seen a few sentences that are a little different.
Here is an example:
He likes apples because they are delicious.
This sentence has two clauses, but only one main clause.
The main clause is He likes apples. That part is complete. We are left with because they are
delicious. This part isn’t complete and can’t stay by itself. It needs another part of the sentence, so
we call it a dependent clause. Sometimes it is called a subordinate clause. It means that it
depends on the main clause because it is not complete.

Look at this.
Because I like it.
Huh? We don’t know what the sentence is really about. This dependent clause needs a main
clause.
I play tennis a lot because I like it.
Oh, now it makes sense! Now it’s complete.
This kind of sentence is called a complex sentence because it contains a main clause and a
dependent clause.

Exercise 1: Complete the sentences.

Example: I like summer because …

I like summer because it’s very warm.

I would like to go to the concert because ___________________________________

It is raining so ________________________________________________________

He is wearing a suit but ________________________________________________

I study English because ________________________________________________

I am going to school and _______________________________________________

I need to earn money so ________________________________________________

I am hungry but ______________________________________________________

The bridge is closed so _________________________________________________

They were laughing because _____________________________________________

I talked and __________________________________________________________

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LESSON 18
Hope and wish
For things that actually might happen, or we think might happen, we use "hope".
Usually we use it to talk about the possible future.
Here are some examples of how we might use hope.
I hope I have money in the future.
Dan hopes for a good job in the future.
In the first sentence, we have two parts:
I hope I have money in the future.
We can also write it like this:
I hope that I have money in the future.
This part, that I have money in the future, is the dependent clause. This part, I hope, is the main
clause. In this case, the dependent clause finishes the main clause. In fact, it is the object of hope.
Now, let’s talk about things that might not happen, or things
that are imaginary. Sometimes we want things but we know we really won’t get them.
In this case, we can hope, but we don’t expect them in reality. For these kinds of things we can use
wish. A wish is something that we hope for, but we are not sure we
will really get it, or something that we can only imagine.
Let me teach you a wish we make on the very first star we see at night.
Star light, star bright,
I wish I may
I wish I might
Have the wish I wish tonight.
You can make this wish only when there is one star in the sky. Some people cross their fingers like
this to make the wish stronger. Some people make the wish silently, because they believe that if
they say it out loud it won’t come true.
Now, let’s learn about using the verb wish. We will only talk about wishes for the future and imag-
inary situations. First, we can wish for something, like we saw with hope.

We wish for peace.

Unfortunately, in this world there is always somewhere that does not have peace, so this wish will
probably not come true.
The very special thing about using the verb wish is that when we use a dependent clause, the verb
in that clause is in the past.
I wish I could speak Chinese.
I might be able to speak Chinese in the future, but right now I can’t. Maybe I have a Chinese
friend and I want to speak with her. Therefore, I make this wish.
I wish (that) I could fly.
This means that I want to have the ability to fly, but I don’t believe that it is possible. It is only an
imaginary situation.
When we make a wish we can use that, or we can leave that out of the sentence. If we don’t use
that, it doesn’t change the meaning of the sentence.
I wish there were peace in the world.
Notice that we say there were. This is a very special use of the verb be. It shows that there isn’t
peace in the world, but you want it.

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Here is another example using the verb be in this special way:
I wish I were rich.
This means that I am not rich, but I want to be rich. Again we use were (not was) when we make a
wish. Every time we use wish, we use were for the be verb; it doesn’t matter which pronoun we
use, we always use were.
Connecting words
We talked about how we use the connecting words and, but, so and because.
We use ‘and’ to give additional information.
We use ‘but’ to contrast information.
We use ‘so’ to talk about results.
We use ‘because’ to talk about reasons.
She hopes to get married, and she wants two children.
He wishes he could buy a new car, but he doesn’t have any money.
I hope to go to America, so I am going to get a passport.
We wish we could speak good English because English is very important.
Notice that with ‘and, but, so’ we usually use a comma before the connecting word.
When we use ‘because’ we don’t use a comma when it comes in the second part of the sentence.

Exercise 2: Fill in the blanks with and, but, so, or because.

Example: I started saving money, _because____ I want to go to Spain.

I wish I could live in England, ____________ I don’t speak English.

I hope to be a doctor, ____________ I am studying medicine.

I am studying medicine ____________ I hope to be a doctor.

I wish I were a millionaire, ____________ I wish I could live in a big house.

I hope I can travel to other countries ____________ I am interested in different cultures.

I wish I could see my family,________ they live in another city.

My friend will call, ______ I am not going to leave the house.

I hope my friend will call, ___________ we need to talk to each other.

I hope I will pass the exam, _______ I hope I can go to the next level.

I don’t have a lot of friends, _____ I wish I did.

Exercise 3: Write 5 sentences about yourself with I hope and

write 5 sentences about yourself with I wish.

HOPE
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

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WISH
__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

Reading

B
Read the story and answer the questions.

ea is depressed today. Her boyfriend has

left her. She feels worthless and reject-
ed. "Will there ever be another love for me?"
Bea says to herself. There is only one thing she
can do. She will go to the fortune teller.
Fortuneteller: Welcome. You look sad! I think
you are having a relationship problem.
Bea: I am so blue. I’m a little embarrassed to be here.
Fortuneteller: I think you wish things were better with your boyfriend. Or is it your
ex-boyfriend?
Bea: We are finished. I was hoping you could tell me if there will be
someone in my future.
Fortuneteller: The answer to this lies within you. Let me look at your palm. Your
lifeline indicates your future will be good. You will find a good job. Is that what you
wish?
1). Why is Bea depressed?
Bea: I was hoping you could
tell me a little about my next
2). Does she feel useful and accepted?
boyfriend. That is, if there will be
another.
3). What has she decided to do?
Fortuneteller: What you wish
4). What does the fortune teller think Bea’s problem is? is not possible. Our half-hour is
up. Maybe next time.
5). How does Bea feel about visiting a fortune teller? Bea: I think seeing you again
is not important. The important
6). What does Bea hope for? thing is to
be myself and if a man finds
7). What does the fortune teller want to see? me, I know he will like me for
who I am.
8). What does Bea’s life line indicate?
Fortuneteller: You knew this all
9). Is this what Bea wanted to hear? along. You only needed me to
help you find it.
10). Where can she find the answer to this question? Bea: Gee, I guess you are
right. Thank you so much.

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ANSWER KEY Lesson 18

Exercise 1: Complete the sentences. Your answers may be different.

I would like to go to the concert because I love to listen to music.

It’s raining so I’ll take my umbrella.
He is wearing a suit but he isn’t wearing a tie.
I study English because I need it for work.
I am going to school and I am studying hard.
I need to earn money so I will look for a job.
I am hungry but I don’t have time to eat.
The bridge is closed so we can’t go to the other side.
They were laughing because the joke was funny.
I talked and he listened.
Exercise 2: Fill in the blanks with and, but, so, or because.

I wish I could live in England, but I don’t speak English.

I hope to be a doctor, so I am studying medicine.
I am studying medicine because I hope to be a doctor.
I wish I were a millionaire, and I wish I could live in a big house.
I hope Ican travel to other countries because I am interested in different cultures.
I wish I could see my family, but they live in another city.
My friend will call, so I am not going to leave the house.
I hope my friend will call, because we need to talk to each other.
I hope I will pass the exam, and I hope Ican go to the next level.
I don’t have a lot of friends, but I wish I did.
Exercise 3: Write 5 sentences about yourself with I hope and write 5 sentences about yourself
with I wish. Here are some examples.

HOPE
I hope I speak English well soon.
I hope I get a good job.
I hope you are happy.
I hope there is peace.
I hope we can go out.

WISH
I wish I could speak a lot of languages.
I wish I had a million dollars.
I wish you were here.
I wish we could travel around the world together.
I wish I were rich.

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Reading
1). Why is Bea depressed?
Her boyfriend has left her.

2). Does she feel useful and accepted?

No, she feels worthless and rejected.

3). What has she decided to do?

She has decided to see a fortuneteller.

4). What does the fortuneteller think Bea’s problem is?

She thinks she is having a relationship problem.

5). How does Bea feel about visiting a fortune teller?

She is a little embarrassed.

6). What does Bea hope for?

She hopes for a future relationship / a new boyfriend.

7). What does the fortuneteller want to see?

She wants to see Bea’s palm.

8). What does Bea’s life line indicate?

It indicates that she will find a good job.

9). Is this what Bea wanted to hear?

No, she wants to learn something about her romantic future.

10). Where can she find the answer to this question?

She can find the answer inside herself.

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vocabulary list
NOUNS VERBS ADJECTIVES ADVERBS PREPOSITIONS
doll cross complex again about
lottery graduate imaginary always around
definitely for
CONJUNCTIONS especially from
and finally in
because maybe of
before quickly on
but really to
or probably with
so sometimes
when soon
therefore
today
QUESTION WORDS tonight
how unfortunately
what
where
who
why

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