Better Ways to Say "I Want," "I Think," and "I Don't Know" [514]

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In this episode, you’ll learn alternatives to very common phrases like “I want,” “I think,” and “I don’t know.” Using a wider range of expressions will make your speech more varied and precise. I explain when each alternative is appropriate so you can sound more confident in discussions.

Whether you’re preparing for proficiency exams (IELTS, CAE, TOEFL, etc), improving your professional English, or simply aiming to speak more like a native, this lesson will give you practical tools to achieve that. You’ll not only expand your vocabulary but also understand how to use these expressions in context to sound clear and fluent. 

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Transcript

0:09

Hi there, this is Harry. Welcome back to Advanced English Lessons with Harry, where I try to help you to get a better understanding of the English language, to help you with your conversational skills, your business English skills, interview skills, whatever your goals are, we're here to help. And for those of you and your friends or family who want one-to-one lessons, well, you know what to do. Just get in touch, www.englishlessonviaskype.com and you can apply for a free trial lesson and we'll be very happy to hear from you and very happy to help you. 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. 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. So 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 I will be able to take a holiday next year. 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. Oh, 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, oh, 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 say, oh, I long for some peace and quiet. I long for those nice, warm winter evenings when it's cold outside and I'm tucked up in bed in my big duvet or I'm sitting beside the fire and reading a book. I long for those warm winter evenings inside the house. Okay, so to long for something is to really want it for a period of time. The next one is I crave. And we crave something is when we have a desire for it. Yeah, and usually it's to do with things like food. Okay, so somebody who's on a diet perhaps might crave some chocolate. So they've been 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, oh, I crave a nice bar of chocolate. I desire. So again, to desire something a little bit stronger than like, a little bit stronger than hope to have. And it's something similar to crave. So to 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 of chocolate, 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? Yeah, so another way of saying, I want. I feel like, and again, a bit informal here. Ah, I feel like a pizza tonight. It's Friday. Why not? We always have a pizza. Or if we're going to have a pizza, it's always on Friday. Ah, I feel like going away for the weekend. Why don't we? We haven't done it for ages. 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. 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, 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. She didn't get the course she wanted. She had her heart set on that course, meaning she wanted to go to that university really deeply because other friends are going. 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 you might fail. 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 and deep desire to do it. I feel in the mood. Okay, so mood is one of those things where it can be a good mood, or it can be a bad mood. I've lost all my money. Yeah, 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. I feel in the mood for a game of golf. I feel in the mood for a walk in the hills. Okay, so I feel in the mood for that. 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 I, E-Y-E, yeah, we can have our eye on something. It doesn't mean we're staring at it, okay? So we have to be very careful because 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, 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 I went in today and yeah, 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 may be a bit annoyed or frustrated with the job you have. Perhaps you haven't got the promotion that you thought you might get. Or perhaps the salary increase that your boss had promised you hasn't come through yet. 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've had your eye on a change for some time. So as I said, when you have your eye on something, it's something you want, something you want to do, something you want to change, something you want to buy, but you've been looking at it. 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? I have in mind to paint the walls yellow or to paint the walls orange or peach or whatever color. 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. And from a work point of view, you can always have something in mind because you're planning things, okay? Well, I have something in mind. Let me think about it and come back to you when I've got a few more ideas. There's no point telling you now because I haven't really put all the ideas together, but I just have something in mind. And when I'm ready to tell you, then I'll tell you what I want or what I think we should do. I'm itching for something, okay, or itching to do something. Itch, when you have a 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. 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 their team. I'm itching for a holiday. Why don't we go away? I'm itching for Christmas because I really love it. 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, it 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'd 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. Now, I appreciate in 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. 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 she 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. So when somebody says, I want, it sounds very demanding. I want this, I want that. Yeah. So you can picture the little child in the sweet shop. I want this. I want to borrow chocolate. I want a toy. 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. Okay, so remember what my mother used to say? I want, never gets. Well, we're going to look at expressions with, I think, or other ways to say I think. Okay, so let me start. So the first one, in my opinion, well, it's very obvious when we want to tell somebody what we think or we want to give a detailed explanation of something, we might just say, well, in my opinion. So you might want to stress it so you can change the intonation if you want to be really strong. Well, in my opinion, and you emphasize the my, or if you just want to make a point or clarify something, in my opinion, I think we should do this. Okay, so you want to make it very, very clear that this is your view. As far as I'm concerned, so a little bit more formal, as far as I'm concerned. So this could be any type of discussion you're having in a work environment, with your family, with friends, whatever it might be. As far as I'm concerned means this is what you believe. Yeah, so no matter what has happened, no matter what other people have said, this is the view that you have and you're going to stick to it. If we want to be very strong, because when we say I think, I think sort of suggests a little bit of uncertainty. So if we say I believe that, then it's a really, really strong statement. I believe that's something that I fundamentally believe in. And when I'm trying to help people to prepare for job interviews and I ask them to give me some indication of what their strengths or weakness is or some point of view, often they tell me, oh, I think that. And I always try to get them to say, no, no. Don't say, I think. Say, I believe. Have conviction. Conviction means be strong in your view. Be strong in your opinion, what you believe. I believe that my strengths are the following, blah, blah, blah, blah. I believe that my weaknesses are whatever they might be, one or two or something small. But when you use I believe, then there's a little bit more conviction. And you can, again, as we did in the first example, you can stress the word believe. I believe, yeah, I believe. I, not anybody else, it's what I believe is important. I believe that what the government should do is this. I believe that everybody's opinion should be respected. So I believe, no matter what other people think, I believe. The next one is a little bit uncertain. It seems to me or it appears to me. So when we use words like seems or appear, then it might not be accurate, it might not be true, but to you, that's how it appears, or to you, that's how it seems. Okay, so it seems and get that S. And when you use it, stress the S. It seems to me, or it appears to me. So it seems to me the best way to deal with this is as follows. It appears to me, or it would appear to me, that your son or daughter has made a wrong decision. So it appears to me that they're only doing that because somebody else did it. It seems to me that it would be better if they did it another way. So you're voicing your opinion. You're not so strong about it, okay? Because when we use it seems or it appears, it turns it into a little softer, it's a little less direct. It's softening your approach. It appears to me, it seems to me. Okay, next, I feel that. And when we use this, I feel that or I have a feeling that, then this is expressing a real personal opinion. It's something that you feel personally inside. Yeah, I feel. I feel it's important for me to voice my opinion. I feel important for me to tell people when I believe they are wrong. I feel that you don't appreciate me. I have the feeling that you don't appreciate my point of view. So here you're just emphasizing your emotional side, your personal views inside of you. Okay, next is I assume that. So when you say I assume that, you might not be 100% certain, but there's a belief that something is going to happen or something is correct. So I assume that they are going to give us a holiday on Monday because we worked the previous bank holiday. So you're making an assumption. It hasn't been confirmed to you, but this is what they did the previous year or this is the action that they've taken previously. So it's a good reason to believe that this is what they'll do this time. So I assume that. Next, from my point of view. Okay, so again, here we're making it very personal. From my point of view, again, it may not be your point of view or your colleagues' point of view or your family, whoever it might be, but from my point of view, it is important. From my point of view, it is important that you respect what your parents want. From my point of view, if they want you to study for a few hours after school and put away your mobile phone, then again, you should respect that. But it's from my point of view, not everybody would share the same opinion or the same view. Next, a little more informal, if you ask me, and again, here, depending on how you put the stress or where you put the intonation, you can make it more aggressive or stronger. So if you ask me, the world is crazy. Yeah, if you ask me. But if you want to put more stress on it, if you ask me, I really think we've made a serious mistake here. Next, a little bit more formal, I consider, I consider that to be rather insulting. I consider that to be inappropriate at this particular time. So a teacher might say to the children in the class, perhaps the older children, the 15 or 16 years of age, I consider that inappropriate language to use in the classroom. As far as I can see or as far as I can tell. Now these are both very, very similar. So as far as I can see or as far as I can tell, so this is us expressing our opinion with perhaps some limited information. When we use the expression as far as I can see, now as far as I can see at the moment is the end of the room or if I go outside as far as I can see is the end of the street. Okay, so and as far as I can tell, it means based on the information we have, which as I said, may not be the full story, but based on that information, this is my opinion. So as far as I can see, they're both in the wrong. So it's a way of you expressing your opinion. As far as I can see, well, that's it, it's over. As far as I can tell, yeah, it's over. So we can use them both in the same way. To my mind or in my mind, okay? To my mind, I don't think it's the right way to do it. I think you should perhaps write the letter, complete your CV or look at your CV again, and then put it in LinkedIn or wherever you wish to place it and see do people take an interest, okay? And then the very last, because I added it at the beginning, is this quite quirky or unusual expression, your two cents worth. Okay, so when we use that, it's quite old-fashioned because many years ago we would have said your two peas worth, but now we're talking about Euros mostly. So we talk about your two cents worth. And of course, two cents is not worth a lot of money. So when somebody says, do you want to add your two cents worth? Or you might say, I would like to add my two cents worth. It means I would like to give my opinion. It might not be worth much because two cents isn't a lot of money, but nevertheless, I would still like to give you my opinion. Well, excuse me, can I add my two cents worth? So you give your opinion. And again, you're not belittling your contribution. You're not belittling anybody else's, but we use that expression to generally mean, okay, it might not be the most important thing, but I would like to add my two cents worth. Okay, so it's our contribution to the thought process. It's our contribution to the argument. It's our contribution to the debate, our two cents worth. We're going to look at other ways to say, I don't know. Okay, so the first one, I have no idea. So if somebody asks you, what are you going to do today? I have no idea. I've just got home from work. I was working that late shift. So I've really no idea what I'm going to do today. So let me have a bit of breakfast and we'll talk about it later. Second one is a little bit more informal. And it's, I haven't the foggiest. Now, fog is when something we can't see through. It's a weather condition when the night has been warm and the morning is cold and you get this air trapped and you create this fog and you can't see through it. So this is what we mean when we say I haven't the foggiest means I have no idea, I don't know, but it's quite informal, yeah? Okay. So what would you like for dinner tonight? I haven't the foggiest. I mean, I'd like something different. You know, when you get that sort of taste for something a little different than we usually have, but I don't know what I want. I haven't the foggiest. Now, the next, I say the three options, we're talking about clue. I haven't a clue. I have no clue, or I'm clueless. So a clue is something that will help you solve a problem. When you say, I haven't a clue, it means I've no idea. Or I have no clue. Again, I have no idea. Or I'm clueless. Okay, so what's the boss want to have that meeting about? He's sent around an email a few minutes ago and we have to assemble in the boardroom at five o'clock. I haven't a clue. I've no clue. I'm clueless. Like you, I'll have to wait until I get to the meeting. Next is very, very informal. Dunno. Yeah? Means I don't know, but we use dunno. Yeah. It's like wanna and gona, one of these Americanizations. Yeah, so what you're going to do at the weekend? Dunno. What are you going to do after dinner? Dunno. What are you going to do about those results you got in your exam? Dunno. Next, your guess is as good as mine. So this is a little bit more formal. Your guess is as good as mine. Really, what it means is you have every bit of information that I have. You have as much information as I have. So your guess is as good as mine. Do you know what's going on? What's the meeting about? Well, your guess is as good as mine, meaning I can guess what it might be about, but you can make the same guess because you've all got the same information. So your guess is as good as mine. Next, it beats me. So a little bit more informal. It beats me. So when we use it beats me, it means I'm defeated, literally. Yeah, so I really don't know. I'm trying to work out what the answer is, but beats me. Yeah. Do you know what they're doing? Well, it beats me. I mean, I've been trying to work it out now for a couple of days when I started seeing them getting ready and putting up the boardings. I've asked a few people, but nobody seems to know. So it beats me means I'm defeated. I've scratched my head. I'm trying to think of what it might be. Don't ask me. Well, again, yeah, when somebody says to you, well, what's happening? Well, don't ask me. So they think you have the information. They think you know what's going on. What's wrong with Mary? She's in a really, really bad mood. She's been like that since she got home from university yesterday and I can't seem to get through to her. Oh, don't ask me. She might have fallen out with a boyfriend again. Who knows? So don't ask me. So it's in form, but it's a way of saying, look, I don't know. You don't know. We're just going to have to wait and see what she tells us. I'm not sure. So when we use I'm not sure, there's a little bit of uncertainty here. You might have some ideas, but when you say I'm not sure, well, then it indicates that possibly, but you don't want to say exactly because you might be wrong. If you want to know when or what time your babysitter is going to arrive, you know, did you arrange for the babysitter? Yes, I sent her the message when you asked me to. I told her we were going to be going out at around seven o'clock. So what time is she going to get here? Well, I'm not sure, but she's usually here on time. So let's give her another 10 or 15 minutes. And if she hasn't shown up by then, we'll send her a text. So I'm not sure means I'm a little bit uncertain. That's a good question. Now, this is quite formal. Okay. So at a meeting, particularly when somebody asks for some information, somebody wants to know what the strategy is, somebody wants to know what the marketing plan, what the launch of the new product is. So they've got lots of questions that they want answers to. So when you ask the question, the boss says, that's a good question. Now, he might not have a good answer. He might have no answer or she might have no answer, but that's a good question is another way of saying, well, look, I don't know. Or I look into it and I'll get back to you. So again, when somebody asks the boss or the line manager about something in particular, and if they don't have the information, well, then again, it's better for them to say something like, leave it with me, I look into it and I'll get back to you. So that's a good classic response. It's quite formal. Leave it with me, I look into it and I'll get back to you. And then finally, who knows? Or how would I know? So a little bit more informal. And usually when somebody says it, they just go, oh, who knows? There's a little bit of an exclamation and it's all about the tone and the intonation in your voice. Or when you really don't know, well, you're a little bit annoyed that they've asked you and you've told them time and time again that you don't know. So you respond with, well, how would I know? I mean, I'm the same as you, we're at the same level. Nobody tells me anything around here anyway. So how would I know? Where are the kids? Oh, who knows? They never tell me anything. So something's happened. Somebody's a little bit annoyed. And then there's a little bit of tension. And the response you get is, who knows? How would I know? So all in the intonation in the voice. Try to pick out a couple of them. Try to use them so you're not using the same expression all the time. Try a few of the others. Try to see how you can use them, introduce them, feel comfortable with them, and then practice a few others. And if you need any help or any other suggestions, of course, please come back to me. I really appreciate you watching. I really appreciate you listening. And as always, join me again soon.