How to Describe Excitement in English

So I'm sure there are times when you're really happy,

because you're excited about something

you're going to do in the future.

In this English lesson,

I'll teach you eight different ways

you can talk about that thing that you're going to do,

ways to talk about that thing that you're excited about.

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So tomorrow is the first day of market.

We're going to go sell our flowers

for the first time this year.

And earlier today, Jen said, "I'm pumped.

I'm pumped about the first market day,"

and that's the first phrase I want to teach you.

When you know you're going to do something exciting,

you can use that phrase to express that excitement.

Now, this is a little bit informal.

It's kind of slang in a way.

When you say, "I'm pumped,"

it's not something you would write in a formal document.

But if there's something that you're really excited about,

something that's going to happen in a few days,

you might just say, "I'm pumped,"

and you can end the sentence there,

or you can say, "I'm pumped about,"

and then describe the thing that you're pumped about.

Usually when you know you're going

to be doing something exciting, you have to wait.

Maybe it's a few days from now and you have to wait.

And another phrase we use

to express the excitement is to say, "I can't wait."

And again, you can end the sentence there,

or you can say, "I can't wait for,"

and describe the thing that you're waiting for.

I have a birthday coming up in a few months.

I never say exactly when it is,

and I can't wait for my birthday this year.

It will be really fun.

We'll probably have a campfire outside.

I will invite my brothers and sisters over

and it will be a really good time.

But between now and then, I have to wait.

And if I was to describe my excitement, I would say,

"I can't wait for my birthday."

So I have to admit, I cheated a little bit for this video.

The next phrase is the phrase, "I can hardly wait,"

and it's almost the same as the last phrase,

but I wanted there to be eight phrases

and this seemed like a good one to teach you as well.

And by the way, it's not just some random phrase.

It's very common.

When you're excited about something in the future,

you might say, "I can hardly wait."

Maybe your birthday is coming up

and you can hardly wait for your birthday.

What this means is you do have to wait,

but you're so excited, the waiting is really, really hard.

You really want that birthday to come.

You can hardly wait for your birthday.

So in a recent English lesson,

I talked about how the school year is ending

and I'm looking forward to summer vacation.

In a few weeks, school will be over,

and that's the phrase I would use

to describe my excitement right now.

I am looking forward to summer vacation.

I am looking forward to the school year being done.

I still have a lot of work to do,

but as I do my work each day,

I have a little bit of excitement.

I have to kind of try not to be too excited.

I have a little bit of excitement,

because I'm really looking forward

to the end of the school year.

So this next phrase is a little bit of a boring one,

and it's probably the most common way

to say you're excited about something

and it's the phrase to be excited about something.

We sometimes use the word for as well in English.

You can be excited about something or excited for something.

Here's a good example.

Next year, I will watch basketball.

I like to watch the Toronto Raptors.

I am excited for next year.

I am excited about next year.

Apparently there will be a different head coach

and maybe a few different players on the team.

So interchangeably, again, for and about,

I could say, "I'm excited for next year.

I think it'll be amazing.

I'm excited about next year.

I think it will be really cool."

This next phrase is kind of formal

and kind of old fashioned.

So you won't really use this in an English conversation,

but you might read it in a book

or you might hear it while watching a TV show.

It's the phrase eagerly anticipating.

So imagine there's a couple

and they are going to have a baby.

Maybe in a month, they're going to have a baby.

So you might hear them say,

"We are eagerly anticipating the birth of our child."

So it's, again, very formal.

You won't really use this in a conversation,

but you might hear it or you might read it somewhere.

So it's good to know.

So I've probably mentioned a few times

that school's almost done.

And one of the phrases I might use in this situation as well

is that I'm counting the days.

I'm not sure exactly how many days there are.

It's really just a figure of speech.

But definitely because I'm excited

about the end of the school year, I'm counting the days.

When there's something exciting coming up in the future,

and it's a week or two weeks or three weeks away,

you could describe your excitement by saying,

"Oh, I'm counting the days."

So this next phrase is a common phrase for children to use,

but I use it as an adult sometimes too.

And it's to say the number of sleeps

that are left before something.

So the day before my birthday,

I'll probably say to Jen, "One more sleep."

Two days before my birthday,

I'll probably say to Jen, "Two more sleeps."

So you're kind of just highlighting

how many more nights of sleep there are

between the current day

and the day when that exciting thing happens.

Well, hey, thank you so much

for watching this English lesson.

I hope there are some exciting things in your future,

and I hope that now you know

how to talk about that excitement.

Remember, if this is your first time here,

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and if you have time,

why don't you stick around and watch another English lesson?

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