Overused words: Hope.
Hello everyone. Today and next week, we are not thinking about actual mistakes in English. Instead, we are thinking about a few common words that are simply used too often by learners of English. By expanding your vocabulary in these areas, you can make a lot of progress in sounding more like a native speaker.
Today, lets consider the word 'hope'.
'I hope to meet you tomorrow'.
The above sentence is completely fine, grammatically. But it does not sound natural. Also, the meaning is not as specific as it could be. Consider:
'I will see you tomorrow.'
Here, we express a lot of certainty, it seems we have made a definite plan.
'I would like to meet you tomorrow.'
Here, there is no certainty, and the sentence is more of a request.
'I wish I could see you tomorrow.'
Here, the connotation of 'hope' is still there, but it sounds as if the hoped-for thing (i.e. meeting you), will not be possible.
Let's look at some other cases.
'I hope it is not so hot today.'
This is incorrect. You cannot use 'hope' for present situations you already know about. Here, you should be saying 'I wish it wasn't so hot today'. You COULD say, for example, 'I hope it is not hot at the beach today', if we are planning to go there, or maybe if people we know are already there. This is only possible because we don't already know if it's hot or not.
For clarity, here is a case where 'hope' is 100% correct: 'I hope it does not rain tomorrow, because I am going to the beach.'
Remember: the important thing about 'hope' is that we DON'T KNOW if what we are hoping for is already true or not.
Finally, it's very unnatural (but not a mistake) to say 'That is my hope', or 'My hope is...'. Try using words like wish, expect, desire or 'my ambition' instead for sentences like these.
-Tim
下北沢英会話スクール ビートンボックス
Hello everyone. Today and next week, we are not thinking about actual mistakes in English. Instead, we are thinking about a few common words that are simply used too often by learners of English. By expanding your vocabulary in these areas, you can make a lot of progress in sounding more like a native speaker.
Today, lets consider the word 'hope'.
'I hope to meet you tomorrow'.
The above sentence is completely fine, grammatically. But it does not sound natural. Also, the meaning is not as specific as it could be. Consider:
'I will see you tomorrow.'
Here, we express a lot of certainty, it seems we have made a definite plan.
'I would like to meet you tomorrow.'
Here, there is no certainty, and the sentence is more of a request.
'I wish I could see you tomorrow.'
Here, the connotation of 'hope' is still there, but it sounds as if the hoped-for thing (i.e. meeting you), will not be possible.
Let's look at some other cases.
'I hope it is not so hot today.'
This is incorrect. You cannot use 'hope' for present situations you already know about. Here, you should be saying 'I wish it wasn't so hot today'. You COULD say, for example, 'I hope it is not hot at the beach today', if we are planning to go there, or maybe if people we know are already there. This is only possible because we don't already know if it's hot or not.
For clarity, here is a case where 'hope' is 100% correct: 'I hope it does not rain tomorrow, because I am going to the beach.'
Remember: the important thing about 'hope' is that we DON'T KNOW if what we are hoping for is already true or not.
Finally, it's very unnatural (but not a mistake) to say 'That is my hope', or 'My hope is...'. Try using words like wish, expect, desire or 'my ambition' instead for sentences like these.
-Tim
下北沢英会話スクール ビートンボックス