[ti:Will and Want]
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[00:01.76]Hello! Today's question for Ask a Teacher
[00:05.08]comes from Ademir in Brazil.
[00:08.56]When can I use "will" with the same meaning of "want?"
[00:13.72]When are the two words interchangeable? Thanks, Ademir, Brazil.
[00:18.76]Dear Ademir,
[00:20.12]Thank you for writing to us.
[00:22.40]It is easy to understand why you have this question.
[00:27.28]Merriam-Webster Learner's Dictionary uses "want"
[00:31.32]in one of the meanings it gives for "will,"
[00:34.04]saying it means "to want or desire something."
[00:38.04]There are three different ways we use the verb "will."
[00:41.64]Let us look at those one by one.
[00:45.36]First, you should understand that we have a special kind of verb
[00:49.32]called a modal verb.
[00:52.16]These "helping" verbs include can, could, shall,
[00:57.40]should, ought to, will and would.
[01:02.00]When we use "will" in this way,
[01:04.48]it means that something is expected to happen.
[01:08.40]The train will leave at nine o'clock.
[01:12.16]Second, when the verb stands alone
[01:16.32]it means to want or desire something.
[01:18.84]Here is an example:
[01:22.00]You can say what you will,
[01:24.00]but my yellow car is beautiful to me.
[01:29.32]In that case, you may use the verb "want"
[01:32.64]and have the same meaning.
[01:35.48]You can say what you want,
[01:37.48]but my car is beautiful to me.
[01:41.32]The only difference here between "will and "want"
[01:44.28]is that we often add "to" after "want" as in:
[01:49.92]You can say what you want to about my car, I still love it!
[01:56.08]A third meaning of the verb "will"
[01:58.36]is "to cause or try to cause something to happen
[02:01.44]by using the power of your mind."
[02:05.96]Here is an example:
[02:08.56]The student willed the clock to move faster
[02:12.08]toward the end of class.
[02:15.24]As in the earlier case,
[02:17.00]you might be able to use "want" in these sentences,
[02:20.08]but it would change the meaning a little
[02:22.60]and sound less forceful.
[02:26.16]Finally, we can use "will"
[02:28.28]to talk about leaving our property to others when we die.
[02:32.72]That is a legal term, as in:
[02:35.84]She willed the family jewels to her only child.
[02:42.04]In that case, you could not substitute "want"
[02:45.44]unless you added another verb, as in this example:
[02:50.60]She wanted to will the family jewels to her only child.
[02:56.56]I hope this makes the difference clear to you, Ademir.
[03:00.28]What question do you have about American English?
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[03:10.68]And that's Ask a Teacher.
[03:13.24]I'm Jill Robbins. 更多听力请访问21VOA.COM