How to Express Hope in English

Hi, Bob, the Canadian here.

Welcome to this English lesson

on how to express hope in English.

If you look behind me,

you'll see that the daffodils are blooming.

Every year, no matter how bad the winter is,

the daffodils grow and the daffodils bloom,

and they're beautiful and it gives me hope.

Hope is this positive feeling about the future.

Hope is when you want something to happen,

when you're looking forward to something happening

and you're just excited about it

and you just really want it to happen.

So the daffodils always give me hope

because I just think they're super resilient.

So I thought I would do an English lesson for all of you

on how to express hope in English.

(soft music)

Well, hello and welcome to this English lesson

about how to express hope in English.

If this is your first time here,

don't forget to click that red subscribe button over there

and give me a thumbs up if this video helps you learn

just a little bit more English.

Hey, we have an expression in English, high hopes.

I have high hopes that this pandemic will be over this year.

I have high hopes that this pandemic will end,

that people will get vaccinated

and that eventually life will go back to normal.

So when you say you have high hopes,

it means that you really want something to happen.

You are really looking forward to that thing happening.

I definitely have high hopes

that this pandemic will be over this year.

Now some people might say, "Don't get your hopes up."

When someone says, "Don't get your hopes up,"

what they're saying is,

"Don't be excited in a positive way for something."

Don't get your hopes up means don't smile

and look forward to something

because it probably won't happen,

but I can't see that right now.

I can't say to people, "Don't get your hopes up."

I need to stay positive.

I need to think positive thoughts

because I think that's the best thing to do.

Because after, all hope springs eternal.

When you say that hope springs eternal,

it means that people are, for the most part,

always positive about the future.

I know sometimes we get down a little bit.

Sometimes we aren't positive,

but hope always seems to return.

So we have this really cool little English phrase,

hope springs eternal.

I really believe that's true.

We have two phrases with the word hope

that we use in English to express our opinion.

We say things like, I hope not and I hope so.

Let me use both of them in example sentences.

If someone said,

"I think this pandemic is going to go on forever,"

I would say, "I hope not."

I'm going to express that I don't want that to happen.

So "I hope not" means

that you don't want something to happen.

If someone said, "I think everyone will get vaccinated

by the end of this year or sooner,"

I would say, "I hope so."

So I'm using the phrase "I hope so"

to say that I want that to happen.

So the phrase "I hope not" is used

when you want to say you don't want something to happen

and "I hope so" is used when you want to express

that you do very badly want something to happen.

So I'll be honest with you.

Things in Ontario, Canada are not very good right now.

There are more new COVID cases every day

than we've had during the whole pandemic.

We are in a third wave, but there is a glimmer of hope.

There's a glimmer of hope

because we have more and more vaccines available every day.

Every week a new vaccine gets approved

and more and more people are getting vaccinated.

So there is a glimmer of hope.

A glimmer of hope is when in a bad situation,

you see that there is a way out.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

So right now there is a glimmer of hope,

there are more and more people getting vaccinated every day,

so hopefully that helps a lot.

So I refuse to believe that things are hopeless.

I refuse to believe

that things aren't going to go back to normal.

When you think things are hopeless,

you think there is no hope, and I refuse to think that.

I choose to be hopeful.

When you are hopeful,

it means that you have a positive attitude.

So I am certainly hopeful.

I think it's important that we look on the bright side.

Even though many of us are stuck at home,

we need to look for the things that are cool

about being at home.

I know there's not a lot.

I know we'd all rather be outliving normal lives,

but right now I think it's important

to look on the bright side.

And I think we need to hope for the best.

When you hope for the best, instead of thinking

about all the negative parts of something,

instead of thinking about the bad aspects of something,

you hope for the best,

you try to stay positive in the face of adversity.

So when things are bad,

I think it's always best to hope for the best.

Well, hopefully this English lesson helped you learn

just a little bit more English,

and I hope that as you continue

to study the English language, you enjoy it

and that you're doing well.

I'm Bob, the Canadian.

Thank you so much for watching this lesson.

Remember if you're new here,

don't forget to click that red subscribe button over there

and give me a thumbs up

if this video helped you just a little bit;

and if you have a bit more time,

I hope you'll stay and watch another English lesson.

(smooth music)