wish
/wɪʃ/
wish is pronounced wish (/wɪʃ/). Wish is a verb meaning to desire something or to hope for a particular outcome; it can also express a desire or longing, sometimes with regret. It denotes a longing that may be practical or hopeful, and appears in both present and past tense constructions to express wishes about reality or events. In expressions, it often introduces願望 or polite regrets in various social contexts.
Wish is a verb meaning to desire something or to hope for a particular outcome; it can also express a desire or longing, sometimes with regret. It denotes a longing that may be practical or hopeful, and appears in both present and past tense constructions to express wishes about reality or events. In expressions, it often introduces願望 or polite regrets in various social contexts.
"I wish you luck on your exam."
"She wished she hadn’t missed the meeting."
"We wish for rain after a long dry spell."
Pronounce /wɪʃ/. Start with a brief /w/ lip rounding, then move quickly into the short vowel /ɪ/ as in 'sit,' and end with the unvoiced /ʃ/ as in 'she.' The stress is on the syllable itself (one-syllable word). Ensure a smooth transition from /w/ to /ɪ/ without adding a vowel between. You can think of it as “w-ih-sh” with a crisp final /ʃ/. Audio reference: consult a standard dictionary or pronunciation tool for a native-quality sample.
Two frequent errors: (1) Over-long vowel: extending /ɪ/ into a diphthong; keep /ɪ/ as a short vowel. (2) Turning /ʃ/ into /s/ or /tʃ/; keep a frictionless, alveolar- palatal /ʃ/ with a soft, muffled palatal fricative. Practice with minimal pairs like /wɪʃ/ vs /wɪs/ and /wɪtʃ/ to collapse the consonant to the correct /ʃ/.
In US, UK, and AU, /wɪʃ/ remains relatively consistent, but vowel quality shifts subtly. US English often has a slightly higher, tenser /ɪ/. UK English tends to a shorter, closer /ɪ/ with crisper /ʃ/. Australian English keeps the same /ɪ/ but can show a more centralized starting vowel and a subtly flatter intonation. Overall rhoticity doesn’t affect /ɪ/ here as the word is non-rhotic in connected speech.
The difficulty lies in producing a clean onset /w/ immediately followed by /ɪ/ and transitioning rapidly to the voiceless post-alveolar /ʃ/. The tongue must brace for two contrasting articulations: a rounded labio-velar onset and a high-front lax vowel, then a wide-palate fricative. Small changes in lip rounding, jaw height, or tongue position can blur the /ɪ/ and /ʃ/ or produce a voiced version like /ʒ/. IPA awareness helps correct this.
A unique concern for wish is avoiding the mistaken insertion of a light vowel before /ʃ/. Keep the sequence tight: /w/ + /ɪ/ + /ʃ/ with a brisk glide from /w/ into /ɪ/. The tip of the tongue should simultaneously approach the alveolar ridge for /tʃ/-like movement and remain focused on /ʃ/. This keeps the sound crisp and prevents a softening into /wɪʃ/ or /wɪʃ/ with extra vowel space.
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The word wish comes from Old English wascian, originally meaning to be inclined or to wish for something. It evolved through Middle English as wischen and werd into the modern wish. The root is Proto-Germanic *wiskanam, connected to the sense of wanting or longing. In Old English, wisse could denote a desire or a vow; by the 12th–14th centuries, wish began to appear as a transitive verb requiring an object (to wish something). The semantic shift widened to express not only concrete desires but also regrets or polite hopes (as in “I wish you well”). The word also participates in fixed expressions and idioms like “wishful thinking,” where the sense pivots toward longing without reliable basis. Today, wish retains a broad semantic range: wishing for events, outcomes, or people, and as an idiom in wishes for good luck. First known use in print appears in Middle Ages English texts, with documented usage in the 13th century. Over time, the pronunciation became more centralized, shedding some of the earlier vowel length contrasts, aligning with modern English pronunciation patterns. The etymology reflects cultural emphasis on hope, longing, and politeness in social interactions.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "wish" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "wish" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "wish"
-ish sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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