Use of Wish

How To Use Wish

Wish + (that) + Simple Past: Wish about something in the present or the future

We use wish with the simple past tense to talk about something that we want to happen in the present(simple present tense, not continuous) or the future, but that is very unlikely or impossible to happen.
Example: I wish I were immortal. He wishes his vocabulary were bigger. 

Important Note: 'were' is used instead of 'was' when something is still a wish/desire/hypothesis/imagination, not true or real.

Wish + (that) + Past Continuous: Wish about something happening right now in the present or going to happen soon in the future

We use wish with the past continuous tense to say that we want something to happen differently than it is going on now or is going to happen in the future.
Example: I wish I were sitting on the beach right now. I wish you were not leaving tomorrow. 

Important Note: 'were' is used instead of 'was' when something is still a wish/desire/hypothesis/imagination, not true or real.

Wish + (that) + Past Perfect: Regret about anything in the past

We use wish with the past perfect tense to regret doing something in the past. It is not imaginary. It actually happened or was supposed to happen in the past.
Example: I wish I had studied math harder in school. 

Wish + (that)+ Would: 

When we don't like the others' habits or activities and we want them to change, we use would after wish. This change is not unlikely or impossible; however, it can be used to talk about the weather too.
Example: I wish you would quit smoking. I wish the storm would stop.