Ditching the grammar of regret
My ears are still ringing. And it’s been more than a week since I went to the concert that caused the ringing. I hadn’t been to a concert for a long time. But when I saw that one of my favourite bands of all time, Living Colour, was coming here to Sydney, Australia, I couldn't say no. When I bought the tickets the thought came to mind to get some earplugs. But I got busy and the concert was only a few days later so I never got around to it. Alas, here I am with ringing still in my ears. So, do I regret going to the concert or not wearing earplugs? Well, I have been catching myself saying things like, I wish I had worn earplugs. Maybe I shouldn’t have gone to the concert. If I hadn't gone to the concert, I wouldn’t have damaged my ears, and they wouldn’t be ringing right now! This is the grammar of regret. Obviously, we use different types of grammar to express different things about life. Here we use what’s called conditionals to express hypothetical statements about the past