I regret if I had studied harder

B

brandonkim

Senior Member
Korean-Korea
When I write a sentence, can I use " I regret + 3rd conditional sentence " together?

If I use " I regret" in front of following " 3rd conditional sentence" does it sound natural?
If not, how could I express it, your suggestion or correction would be highly appreciated. (but please use 3rd conditionals)

"I get stressed about my grades .
Because I regret If I had studied harder, I could have got a more high score."
 
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    • It doesn't work but you don't need to use regret there at all! The third conditional is sufficient in expressing your regret.
     
    That doesn’t work.

    Because I regret not studying harder. If I had studied harder, I could have got* a more high higher score grades.

    *US English: gotten

    [crossed]
     
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    grassy said:
    It doesn't work but you don't need to use regret there at all! The third conditional is sufficient in expressing your regret.
    Click to expand...
    I understood. Thanks a lot. :)

    elroy said:
    That doesn’t work.

    Because I regret not studying harder. If I had studied harder, I could have got* a more high higher score grades.

    *US English: gotten

    [crossed]
    Click to expand...
    Thanks a lot for your correction. but I am wondering...should I delete studied harder? Is it because in your sentence, front part, " If I had " implies the meaning "studied harder"?.. a bit confused.
     
    You can express regret idiomatically with the word “only”: “If only I’d worked harder I’d have got better grades”. (It is perhaps too formal for this context though- it might make you sound insincere in your regret.)
     
    Or "I wish I had worked harder; I would’ve gotten better grades."

    (Don't you say "marks" in the UK?)
     
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    Has that always been the case, or is it a recent US import?
     
    se16teddy said:
    You can express regret idiomatically with the word “only”: “If only I’d worked harder I’d have got better grades”. (It is perhaps too formal for this context though- it might make you sound insincere in your regret.)
    Click to expand...
    Thanks for your advice It was helpful. :)
     
    elroy said:
    Has that always been the case, or is it a recent US import?
    Click to expand...
    The distinction between marks and grades isn't recent, no.:)

    As I recall, I got marks (percentages) for my 'O' Levels and grades (A to E) for my 'A' levels.

    And that was 137 years ago....
     
    se16teddy said:
    In England, the results you get from GCSEs and A-levels (the main school exams) are “grades”. GCSE Grade Boundaries 2022: The New Grading System Explained
    Brandonkim’s expressions of regret made me think of these “important” exams!
    Click to expand...

    Another Question plz, I noticed nobody uses score in the sentences, then I guess " grade "or " mark" is more appropriate word to express regular school exam. Then can I still use " higher grade" or only" better grade" is suitable term in this case?
     
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