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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
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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 when I was 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 Could I please 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 course, but 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 wish I could 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 wish I could 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 on a diet 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 time, we 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 returned. Okay? 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? Yes. So 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 attracted, because 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 for a few 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 zoo? We 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 wrong, or 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 on, meeting 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 on a Christmas with your family, perhaps you have your
heart set on that long, long holiday next year. And 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 nothing. So 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% discount, so 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 them. Let'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, okay, so 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 late, quite 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 apartment, so 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 anxious. Yeah, we really want to do something quickly,
immediately, or we just want to change. Yeah. So I'm itching for the start of the new football
season. Yeah. So this during the summer months, not 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 something. And 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 or I feel like quite informal, I have my heart set
on something quite informal, I'm in the mood for, again, 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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