VOA慢速英语2021--Will and Want

Hello! Today's question for Ask a Teacher comes from Ademir in Brazil.

Question:

When can I use "will" with the same meaning of "want?" When are the two words interchangeable? Thanks,

Ademir, Brazil.

Answer:

Dear Ademir,

Thank you for writing to us. It is easy to understand why you have this question. Merriam-Webster Learner's Dictionary uses "want" in one of the meanings it gives for "will," saying it means "to want or desire (something)." There are three different ways we use the verb "will." Let us look at those one by one.

Modal verb ‘will'

First, you should understand that we have a special kind of verb called a modal verb. These "helping¹" verbs include can, could, shall, should, ought to, will and would. When we use "will" in this way, it means that something is expected to happen.

The train will leave at nine o'clock.

Will as a desire

Second, when the verb stands alone it means to want or desire something. Here is an example:

You can say what you will, but my yellow car is beautiful to me.

In that case, you may use the verb "want" and have the same meaning.

You can say what you want, but my car is beautiful to me.

The only difference here between "will and "want" is that we often add "to" after "want" as in:

You can say what you want to about my car, I still love it!

Using mental force

A third meaning of the verb "will" is "to cause or try to cause (something) to happen by using the power of your mind." Here is an example:

The student willed the clock to move faster toward² the end of class.

As in the earlier case, you might be able to use "want" in these sentences, but it would change the meaning a little and sound less forceful.

Giving property in a will

Finally, we can use "will" to talk about leaving our property to others when we die. That is a legal term, as in:

She willed the family jewels to her only child.

In that case, you could not substitute³ "want" unless you added another verb, as in this example:

She wanted to will the family jewels to her only child.

Words in This Story

dictionary – n. a book or website that gives the meanings of words

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 toward   

prep.对于，关于，接近，将近，向，朝

参考例句：

• Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
• Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了，并跑了过去。

3 substitute   

n.代理，代理人，代用品，代替物；vt.代替；vi.替代，取代

参考例句：

• Can you substitute for the singer who is ill?你能替一下那位得了病的歌手吗？
• Yogurt is a perfectly acceptable substitute for cream in cooking.酸奶是烹饪用的特别受欢迎的奶油替代品。