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

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 emphasise 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. So we can say this for anything:

"My kingdom for a beer."

Means all I want right now is a beer, but I can't find a beer. I will give you everything

I have, if you bring me a beer right now. That's all I want right now. Okay? So, keep

in mind, native speakers use these all the time. This one a little bit more rare. This

is very dramatic. If you want to be very dramatic about your desire, you can use this expression.

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