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  • Hi there, everybody, this is teacher Harry  here and welcome back to my English classes.  

  • And before I forget, you can always listen to  me on my podcast, you can download them. And you  

  • can also look at the YouTube channels. And don't  forget to subscribe to the channel. And of course,  

  • you can also visit the website where you get  everything that you could possibly need for  

  • your English learning experience a one stop  shop. Okay, so what am I going to talk to you  

  • about today? Well, the lesson today is talking  about I want and when we use I want in English,  

  • it can sound a little bit harsh. I remember whenwas growing up, my mother would always say to me,  

  • I want never gets. I want never gets. And what you  meant by that was, if you say I want it sounds  

  • a little bit rude. So if you say that all the  time, then I'm not going to give you what I want,  

  • or what you want. So if I wanted something in  the sweet shop, I want this I want that no, no,  

  • no was her response. So she tried to teach  me good manners. And if I wanted something,  

  • I would have to say, I would like or Couldplease have something now I appreciate and many  

  • languages I want I would like sound the same  or perhaps the words are the same. But in the  

  • English language. They're very different. So when  somebody says, I want, it sounds very demanding.  

  • I want this. I want that. Yeah. So you can picture  that little child in the sweet shop, I want this,  

  • I want to borrow chocolate I want to tie. And it  sounds really, really bad. And all the customers  

  • in the shop will be looking at you of coursebut I would like or Could I please have much more  

  • polite and much better hat. Okay, so remember what  my mother used to say, I want never gets. So we're  

  • going to look today at different ways in which you  can say I want that will sound much better, and  

  • much more polite. Okay, so I'm going to give you  a list of the various options that we have. And  

  • then I'll go through them one by one so you can  understand where and how we can use it. And what's  

  • always important and also important with these as  they are the words we use around it. For example,  

  • I would like yeah, so it's, I would followed by  like, I would like some tea please. Or I would  

  • like some coffee, please. Or could I have some  tea please? Or could I have some coffee, please,  

  • but definitely not. I want so let me give you the  list. First of all, I'm going to read some of them  

  • because I've got a long list. So have a look at my  screen here. Don't worry about that. I wish I hope  

  • I long for high crave. I lost after a lot to  explain that a bit more later, I lost after  

  • I desire. I fancy. I feel like I have  my heart set on. I'm in the mood for  

  • I have my eye on something on my eye  on somebody. I have something in mind.  

  • I'm itching for something itch. Never scratch,  I'm itching for something or I'm itching to do  

  • something. And then finally, I'd give my right  arm for something, I'd get my write down for  

  • something. So all different ways in which we can  say I want without saying the words I want. So let  

  • me go through them one by one. So the first I wish  I wish I had a euro for every time somebody asked  

  • me for a lesson. Okay, so I wish I had to look at  the other words I use. I wish I had or I wish I  

  • could. I wish I could go out later. But it's very  wet. I'd like to go for a walk. I wish I could  

  • go out so you want to do something. I wishcould talk to my friend. I wish I could call  

  • him or her on the phone. I wish I could use my  laptop but the battery has run out. Okay, so  

  • I wish I could I wish I could do this. I wishcould do that. I hope I hope that you will be able  

  • to come back soon. I hope that it would be able to  take a holiday next year when COVID and all this  

  • pandemic is hopefully out of the way. So I hope  I hope that I hope to join a course next year  

  • I hope to sign up for university in the next few  months. So here I hope to do something. And I hope  

  • that so just again look at the words that you  use in conjunction with my expression. I hope

  • I long for when we long for something. It's  like the word long yeah long. So when you  

  • long for something, it means literally that you  have wanted it for a very long time I long for  

  • a nice cold beer so on a hot summer's day and  you've been working really really hard and at  

  • the end of the day you go home and you're  somebody asks you what would you like off  

  • I've been longing for a beer all day  meaning you've been thinking about it  

  • all day so something that you have been thinking  about for a considerable period of time then  

  • you can use the expression I long for you can  long for some peace and quiet so when the kids  

  • leave home to go to school or they leave  home to go to university or in fact  

  • when they leave home for good you might see heart  I long for some peace and quiet along for those  

  • nice warm winter evenings when it's cold outside  and I'm tucked up in bed and my big dubay or I'm  

  • sitting beside the fire and reading a book I long  for those warm winter evenings inside the house  

  • okay so too long for something is to really wanted  for a period of time thanks we're at one is I  

  • crave and we crave for something is when we have  a desire for us. Yeah, and usually it's to do with  

  • things like food, okay, so somebody who's ondiet perhaps might crave for some chocolate so  

  • they'd be on a diet for several weeks or months  and they really would like to break out and have a  

  • little taste of something that is not so good for  you but tastes very nice. So all I crave a nice  

  • bar of chocolate or I'm craving for a particular  meal that they haven't had perhaps it's a Chinese  

  • takeaway or nice being dirty pizza, whatever they  fancy so they crave for that. And it's often a  

  • verb that's used when we talk about women who  are expecting babies because things change and  

  • they they have unusual cravings for unusual types  of food so they might have a cucumber sandwich or  

  • toasted cheese with some strange topping here so  they crave for something as a really strong strong  

  • desire. Okay, so we might like something but when  we crave for something we can get that taste the  

  • taste of the food or go to the shop and get me  that bag of sweets or go to the shop and get me  

  • that pizza I really crave for something sweet and  crave for something tasty. Okay, so to crave often  

  • when we've done without it for a period of timewe have a deep deep desire to eat it okay to crave

  • to lust after and this you have to be very  careful how you use it because often when we refer  

  • to the word lust is to do with some pleasure and  sometimes it might be sexual pleasure or something  

  • to lust after a person which is not a nice way to  behave Okay, so but if we just lust for something,  

  • it again it's something that you desire very  passionately, okay, so we can last after a bowl of  

  • ice cream or three scoops of chocolate or vanilla  or passion for whatever it might be you lost  

  • for that, okay? But to lust after somebody is  to have a desire to be physically and sexually  

  • close to somebody it might not be returned so  you have to be really really careful. So to lust  

  • after you have to be very particular how you  use it. Okay, so you can love someone deeply but  

  • lost is something that is usually not returnedOkay? So we'll just focus on lusting after some  

  • food or lusting after that deep red bottle of wine  that you tasted several months ago and you haven't  

  • been able to find it in the shop so you you're  really trying to get it so you can enjoy it one  

  • long winter's evening one Friday evening when  you'd like to pop the cork on a bottle of wine  

  • I desire so again to desire something a little  bit stronger than like a little bit stronger than  

  • hope to have some it's something similar to crave  so desire. Yeah, I desire a holiday. I desire  

  • a comfortable home. I desire some free time yes  it's really something strong and something deeper.  

  • I fancy This is quite informal when  we fancy we can fancy anything we can  

  • fancy the bar chafford we can fancy the pizza  or we can say to our friend Do you fancy a walk?  

  • Do you fancy going out tonight? Do you fancy  going to the cinema so we use it all the time  

  • when we're trying to see Does somebody want to  do something that we want to do? I'd like to go  

  • for a walk, do you fancy joining me? Or you  text your friends and say we're meeting for a  

  • pizza and a beer? Do you fancy coming? YesSo another way of saying I want, okay, so it's a  

  • nice informal way and you hear it quite frequently  in particularly British English. Now, we can fancy  

  • the girl in the office, we can fancy the girl in  the shop, we can fancy the guy in the supermarket.  

  • So that means we are attracted to them. It doesn't  mean we physically or in any other way want them.  

  • We fancy them and that we are attractedbecause they're handsome or pretty whatever  

  • it might be. But when we say fancy in terms  of going for a walk or fancy doing something,  

  • it's you want to do something. I fancy going  out tonight, I've been stuck at home for the  

  • last two weeks working remotely. I fancy gone  for a beer because I'm really, I've been flat  

  • out and I just want to get out. Okay, so to fancy  doing something. Do you fancy going somewhere?  

  • Do you fancy eating something? Do you fancy  going into town all of the time. Very,  

  • very informal ways to say what you want, or asking  somebody what they want, or what they want to do.

  • I feel like and again, a bit informal here.  I feel like a pizza tonight. It's Friday,  

  • why not? We always have a pizza. If we're going  to have a pizza. It's always on Friday. I feel  

  • like going away for the weekend. Why don't we we  haven't done it for ages. It's getting to the end  

  • of the summer, or it's early autumn. So we might  get a bit of the last of the the summer lights  

  • and a couple of days and walk on the beach. Yeah,  I really feel like that. Yeah. So to feel like,  

  • I want to do something feel like going away forfew days before the depths of autumn and the early  

  • days of winter are upon us. Okay. I feel like  going into town and maybe just having a walk or  

  • I feel like going to the park. What about the zooWe haven't been to the zoo for ages. Do you feel  

  • like that? Yeah. So fancy doing something feel  like very, very similar, both very, very informal.  

  • Now, some of these next few expressions a little  bit longer, okay. And, but they're equally good.  

  • And again, a good way to describe different  ways to say I want so the first of them,  

  • I have my heart set on something or she has  her heart set on it. So you might come down  

  • one morning and you're having breakfast and your  wife is their partner and son or daughter a little  

  • bit quiet. And you ask what's up what's wrongor just a little bit of bad news, she didn't  

  • get the course you wanted, she had her heart set  on that course, meaning she wanted to go to that  

  • university really deeply because other friends are  going be gentle, she's a little bit upset because  

  • she had her heart set on it. So when you have  your heart set on something, it's a deep desire,  

  • it's something you've planned, something you've  hoped for, and you haven't really considered  

  • that it might, you might fail, so you're hard  to set on it. And then when somebody tells you,  

  • sorry, you didn't get in, or you didn't have  enough points, well, of course, then naturally,  

  • you're going to be disappointed. people haven't  been able to go away for a long, long time for  

  • holidays. And a lot of people had their heart set  on joining their family and friends for Christmas  

  • or other celebrations. And unfortunately, they had  to cancel those arrangement or couldn't make them  

  • at all. And even though the hearts were set onmeeting the family, introducing them to the new  

  • grandchild, whatever it might be, the pandemic  put a stop to all of the travelling. So now,  

  • when hopefully things are getting to be a little  bit better. People can once again make those  

  • plans. So perhaps you have your heart set onChristmas with your family, perhaps you have your  

  • heart set on that long, long holiday next yearAnd you're beginning to do the planning already.  

  • Okay, so to have your heart set on something, is  to have a big, deep desire to do it. I feel in the  

  • mood, okay, so mood is one of those things that  can be a good mood, haha, or it can be a bad mood.  

  • Okay, so when we are in a good mood, we feel like  doing something good. Yeah. And when we're in a  

  • bad mood, we feel like doing absolutely nothingSo if I am in the mood or I feel as if I'm in  

  • the mood, then we can do something that we really  want to do. I feel in the mood for a game of golf.  

  • I feel in the mood for a walk in the hills. So  depending on what your real mood is happy or sad,  

  • you will feel in the mood to do something or you  will feel in the mood to do absolutely nothing.  

  • Perhaps you might just want to go to bed, curl  up and go to sleep. Why not? If that's what  

  • you want to do, then if that's what you feel  like doing, then that's what you should do.

  • We can have our eye on something. So high e, y  e, we can have our eye on something, it doesn't  

  • mean we're staring at it, okay? So we have to  be very careful. When we stare at people, they  

  • don't really like it. But when we have our eye on  something, it means we've been watching out for  

  • that. We have a desire to buy it. We want to get  it. Yeah. So perhaps you come home and you're your  

  • partner has bought some new dishes, or some new  plates or some new picture to hang on the wall.  

  • And he said, Oh, what they're interesting, yeah,  I've had my eye on them. For some time I've been  

  • walking past this shop. Every day for the last  two weeks, I keep looking at them and thinking,  

  • they might look nice on the table, or that  might look nice on the wall. So eventually  

  • went in today, and they gave me a 20% discountso why not I bought them. Because I've had my eye  

  • on them for some time, meaning I've been looking  at them, I thought they may be good. And then  

  • I've made a decision. Yeah, I really want themLet's go and let's buy them. You can also have  

  • your eye on another job, you're maybe a bit  annoyed or frustrated with the job you have,  

  • perhaps you haven't got the promotion that  you thought you may get. Or perhaps the salary  

  • increase that your boss had promised you hasn't  come through yet, your friends are moving around  

  • different jobs, some of them are getting paid more  than you're getting. So you begin to look at the  

  • job vacancies and the adverts that are popping  up on the internet. So you've had your eye on  

  • a couple of jobs that might suit you. So you  eventually dust off your CV changes a little bit,  

  • you put it on LinkedIn, and you hope and wait  to see what happens because you want to move  

  • or you want to get more money or you just want  to change so you've had your eye on a change  

  • for some time. So as I said, when you have your  eye on something, is something you want something  

  • you want to do something you want to change  something you want to buy, but you've been looking  

  • now somebody can have their eye on a person, okayso if you're not so happy with the way one of your  

  • colleagues is working, or if you're the boss, and  you've got some subordinates reporting to you,  

  • and some of them are really not performing  so well. You might call one of them into the  

  • office one day said, Look, I've been I had my  eye on you for a while I don't think you look so  

  • happy in what you're doing, or you've been latequite a few mornings, or you're going home early,  

  • is it something you want to tell me Is this  something up. So as a way of approaching it,  

  • you have to be really, really careful. So if you  have your eye on somebody, you're watching their  

  • movements, watching what they're doing, because  you might be a little bit uncomfortable with the  

  • way they've been, hey, they have been behaving  or a little bit uncomfortable with the way they  

  • are working. So to have your eye on someone, or  to have your eye on something, you might want to  

  • move home, you might want a new apartmentso you've been fed up a little bit with the  

  • space you have, maybe there's not enough space  with the pandemic, you're both working at home,  

  • or if the kids are at home online. So not a lot of  space. So you have your eye on a bigger apartment,  

  • or you have your eye on a new home that you might  want to move to. So anything that you desire,  

  • anything you want to change, you can have your  eye on it, and then just follow through the words,  

  • as I've said, so tap your eye on  something, to want to do something.  

  • I have something in mind. Well, we all have  something in mind from time to time. And again,  

  • this can be used instead of saying I want  what do you have in mind? Well, I have in mind  

  • a change Yes, I don't know let's change the  decoration in the home here I have in mind to  

  • paint the walls yellow or to paint the walls  orange or peach or whatever colour just a bit  

  • of a change. Because let's face it, we spend  a lot of time at home. And we should probably  

  • change things from time to time. So I have in  mind some decoration. What do you think? So  

  • you sit down and you talk about it  and decide what the colours will be?  

  • Who's going to do what who's going to paint  this room who's going to paint that room?  

  • Or do you need somebody to come and help you  so you have something in mind. And from a work  

  • point of view, you can always have something in  mind because you're planning things okay, you're  

  • planning to change the routine, you're  planning to change the approach to  

  • customers, you're planning to change the way you  approach your job. So to have something in mind.

  • I'm itching for something okay, you're itching to  do something it's when you have a scratch scratch  

  • you have to scratch your arm or scratch your  head or whatever you have to scratch. So when  

  • We're itching to do something we're very anxiousYeah, we really want to do something quickly,  

  • immediately, or we just want to change. YeahSo I'm itching for the start of the new football  

  • season. Yeah. So this during the summer monthsnot a lot of football on TV. So somebody who's  

  • a big, big football fan, and let's face it, lots  of guys and girls are football fans, so they're  

  • itching, can't wait for the new football season to  start to support that team. For me, I always dread  

  • the beginning of the football season, because my  team usually is crap. And they play really badly.  

  • But I'm always hopeful. Yeah, so when you're  itching for something like a scratch, you can't  

  • stop wanting it. Until, until you Ah, I'm itching  for a holiday. Why don't we go away, I'm itching  

  • for Christmas because I really love it and my  daughter will come home and all the family will  

  • be together the kids, the grandkids, everybody, so  we're really itching for a good time. So a really,  

  • really informal way to say I want somethingAnd then finally, I'd give my right arm for  

  • something or anything. So to give my right arm  literally means you'd be happy in a way for your  

  • arm to be cut off and taken away. If you got  something, I'd give my right arm for tickets  

  • to go to that football game, I'd give my right  arm to win the lotto, I give my right arm to get  

  • that promotion that I've been hoping for for weeks  and weeks and months and months. Okay, so again,  

  • very, very informal. So when we're looking at all  of these expressions that I've used, as I say,  

  • some of them are more formal than others, some  of them are quite neutral. So I wish and I hope,  

  • and I long for that they're quite formal, I crave  again, a little bit former, I lost after, I think,  

  • not used that sort of so often, but just  mentioned it because it's there to desire again,  

  • a little bit more formal, but I fancy orfeel like quite informal, I have my heart set  

  • on something quite informal, I'm in the mood foragain, quite informal, I have my eye on something,  

  • I have something in mind all more formal, or more  neutral than, than then form. Okay, so mix here of  

  • formal and informal ways for you to say I want  Okay, so as my mother said, I want never gets  

  • I want never get so what we want you to practice  using our other expressions, I would like I would  

  • hope to do, I wish I could. Okay, so that's the  lesson for today. And as I said at the beginning,  

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  • I'll continue to support you with your learningIf you want to contact me, you can do so on  

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  • want to learn English on a one to one basisor indeed in small groups or for the kids,  

  • give me a call. I won't always be me who's  able to do the lessons but I've got a lot  

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  • like to help you. So thanks for joiningThanks for listening and see you again soon.

Hi there, everybody, this is teacher Harry  here and welcome back to my English classes.  

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