Spoken English Free

Grammatical Expression: { if only }
► We use it when we want to express a strong desire for something. Let me give you some ways to use it in sentences.
- I really hate my job! If only I could get another one.
- If only I could find a girlfriend. I would be so much happier than I am now.
- A: I wish Dan wouldn’t be late all the time.
B: If only! Unfortunately, that’s his nature.
- If only my parents would stop pressuring me and my wife to have a baby! My life would be much less stressful!
▼ As you can see from the examples, we often put “I could” after the term “if only”. This is the case of the first two examples.
▼ After “if only” we can also put “would”, as in the last example. In these cases, we don’t put “I” between them; it must be another person or other people.
▼ Sometimes, we use “if only” in a sentence by itself. In these cases, it’s used as a response to another person’s statement. This is the case of the third example.
▼ The term “if only” is very close in meaning to “I wish”, but it’s a little bit stronger and more formal.
▼ As I mentioned, this is used to express a strong desire for something. Please note that the desire can be either a positive thing the person wants, as in the first two examples, or it can be something negative that the person wants to stop, as in the last two examples.

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