Improve Your English Vocabulary: 8 ways to say 'WANT'

Do you want to be more fluent in English? I'll teach you different ways native English speakers say "want". You'll learn new vocabulary used in conversational English. Saying things like 'crave', 'feel like', and 'in the mood for' instead of saying 'want' will make you sound more natural and intelligent. It's also necessary to understand English slang. Dying to know more? Check out this lesson! And you'll also want to take the quiz afterwards: http://www.engvid.com/improve-....your-english-vocabul

TRANSCRIPT

Hi. Welcome back to www.engvid.com. I'm Adam. Today's lesson is a little bit interesting because what we're doing is looking at other ways to say "want". Now, you're thinking: "It's a simple word, just say 'want' every time." But native speakers like to mix up their language a little bit; they like to use different things, different expressions for different moods, different feelings, they want to emphasize something or they want to really exaggerate something, make it more than it is. So we're going to look at different ways to say "want". I have eight different expressions for you.

Now, I know that everybody knows this one: "would like". -"Would you like some tea?" -"Yes, I would like some tea. Thank you. Please and thank you." Very polite, a little bit more formal than "want", no problem.

But then we have "feel like". -"Hmm. Let's go out for dinner tonight." -"Hmm. What do you feel like?" -"I don't know. I feel like a pizza. I feel like a pizza." It means I want a pizza. That's what I have the feeling for. But basically, this means: "I want this." I could say: "I want a pizza", but that's kind of boring. "I feel like a pizza" means: "Mm, that would really satisfy me right now. That would make me feel good."

In the same way... Oh, okay, we have it down here. "I could go for". -"Hmm. What could you go for?" -"I could go for a hamburger. I could go for a lobster." Go for... And usually we say "could go for", because it's just an idea. Right? I might not get it, but "I could go for" means I want this. Whether we can have this or not, I'm not sure, but that's what I'm craving right now. That's the mood I'm in right now. Okay? So, "I could go for a hamburger" means let's go get a hamburger, if one's available.

And you just heard me say "in the mood for". "In the mood for" is similar to "feel like". "Mood" is basically a feeling, but it's more of a mental feeling than a physical feeling. So if I'm in the mood for something, that's what I want. That's the only thing that will satisfy me right now. This is what I want now; nothing else. Later, I'll be in the mood for something else. Okay? So: -"What are you in the mood for?" -"I don't know. I'm in the mood for pizza." I already used pizza. Let me think of something else. "I'm in the mood for a falafel", because that's yummy.

"Craving". Now, "craving", basically means want, but a very, very strong want, like a really strong desire for something. Right? Like nothing else will satisfy you except for this particular thing. Your mouth is already tasting it before you even have it. It's a craving. -"I'm going to go get some sweets. What can I get for you?" -"Mm. I'm craving a donut." It means that's what I really want right now. That's what I, mm, like the juices are coming. I'm salivating already. "Salivating" means like the juices are flowing in the mouth because I want something delicious.

"Dying for". "I'm dying for something" means I really, really, really want. Again, all of these basically mean "want", but there's different degrees of want. So if you're dying for something, it means probably you haven't had it for a long time, and that's why you're dying for it. You feel like if you don't get it, you're going to die. Of course, you're exaggerating, but that gets that... Gets the idea across much more strongly.

Now, we have another couple of expressions. If something will "hit the spot"... So, for example: "Wings will really hit the spot right now" means the spot is right here and a little bit here, too. Right? So if something hits the spot, means that's the only thing that's going to satisfy you. So if you say something is going to hit the spot or something would hit the spot, usually... If something would hit the spot, then that's what you really want right now. This is a very common idiom, actually.

The last one, I just put it in for fun. It's pretty rare. You won't hear it very often. It comes from Shakespeare from the play King... Sorry, Richard III, he says: "A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse." He will trade everything he has if somebody will just bring him a horse. That's all he wants, a horse.