This is an all ears English podcast episode 1905. We hope you’ll use this impressive English grammar

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What are your hopes and dreams? What do you hope to leave behind when you’re gone?

These are big questions and you need the skills to talk about them

Listen in to get three grammar structures for using hope in English

What’s going on Aubrey? What’s shaking?

Oh, I have a question for you Lindsay. This is a good one. I can’t wait to hear your answer. Ready?

I’m ready. I’m ready. What do you hope will change about American culture in the next few years?

Well, usually when I get a question like this, it’s about what I’ve most recently thought about or consumed

So I just listened to an episode today of the daily about single-family homes and how expensive it is

How hard it is to buy a home now in the US right and how that’s changed since the 50s the 60s the 70s

So I hope in our culture we find a way to make it again accessible for people average people like middle income people to own a home

Oh, I agree so much. I have friends that are in that mostly the children of my friends but are right there where they would love to buy a home

Yeah, absolutely cannot get approved for the type of law. It’s just so expensive for even small homes

Yeah, it’s crazy. We have a whole debate going on

We have this term NIMBY right that I’ve been reading a lot about this term then the not in my backyard crowd

The crowd that doesn’t want more housing built. They don’t want multifamily housing units built

And then we have the side where people want we need more supply where we don’t have enough housing supply in our culture

But when we add more supply the value of all of our homes those of us who have bought homes obviously goes down

So I hope this issue gets resolved in our country and that’s new for me this acronym NIMBY

It is glad you brought that up. Yes. I heard that before and I’m all over the news these days

Yeah, I don’t watch the news all that often

It makes me upset and I’m so busy

Let’s say it’s all over like news commentary like podcast and the Wall Street Journal like yeah, it’s it’s it’s really interesting

So guys follow this debate about housing in the US because honestly, we don’t solve this we have big problems

So yeah, and so you guys noticed the question I asked Lindsay, I was asking her what she hopes will change

And we very recently got a very thoughtful question that we covered in a previous episode

1891 because the question was about want need and hope and we shared want a need the grammar we use lots of examples

So check out 1891 if you missed it, make sure to follow the podcast so you don’t miss any of our amazing of course

But we promised a deep dive into hope because the grammar is a little different when you talk about what you hope for

Or what you hope to do. So today we’re going to share that we’re going to talk about hope

Yeah, and guys, this is a key connection skill with your your co-workers your colleagues your friends your neighbors

It’s energizing to talk about the things that you hope for because it actually points to the next generation

Your relative your children their children, right? We can make some big statements here when we use the word hope

So we want by the time we finish today

We want you to be able to do that make some big exciting statements about what you hope for

Yes, or what you hope to accomplish because this is different from what you want to do or need to do

It’s a bigger it’s a big about what you hope to do. It’s a it’s more overarching and I agree Lindsay

This is one of the best ways to get deeper with your connections in English with friends co-workers

So I’m excited for you guys to have this vocabulary so you can do that

Yeah, and I also think to live a better life guys. We have to live in this place. Not all the time

Right. We have things I things I have to do. I have to take the garbage out

Yes, but I should spend some time thinking about what I hope for in my life

And otherwise I could get to the end of my life and I haven’t done those things that matter. Okay, actually

All right. So let’s dive into the grammar here because this is a little tricky

There are three different grammar structures when we use the this verb hope

So first of all, of course, it’s also a noun, right? I have hope right?

This is a sort of abstract idea, but we’re talking about the verb to hope for something

So the first grammar structure is with an infinitive, right?

Yes, we say what I hope is and then you have to have an infinitive which in English is to and the verb

So like what I hope is to leave behind a legacy

Yeah, your infinitive is to leave and Aubrey to you when someone says that does that mean?

Leave behind money like in a state or does that mean leave behind an idea or leave behind something you’ve built?

What does that even mean?

Yeah, I think it means you’re more like your reputation like okay people think about you how they feel about you

What you have accomplished that is all your legacy. I don’t think money

I think honestly I think about the movie or the play Hamilton because there’s a big number where he talks about his legacy

And what is a legacy? What does it mean to leave behind a legacy?

Interesting really big deal for him and he wrote all of these essays

He has a big legacy, but also anyway long story short

His legacy is actually not very impressive because he died in a duel that was very foolish in my opinion

Anyway, so it is interesting to think about what’s your legacy? What will you leave behind?

Oh, that is so this is a big I love these big questions or I ask yourself this guys when you finish today’s episode

What do you want your legacy to be right? That’s big

Here’s another phrase. What I hope is to earn a million dollars and actually, you know a million dollars is not that much money these days, right?

We we talk about a mile in the US just to make sure that we keep ourselves in check here

But a lot of times when a typical American thinks about retirement

They think about reaching that that point of having a million dollars in the bank

And I think by the time we retire, it’s not going to be a ton of money with inflation, right?

Isn’t that much anymore? Not that much and imagine someone saying this sentence maybe not so much like what I hope to accomplish and I’ll be all more like okay, I’m starting this small business and maybe by the end of the year

What I hope is to earn a million dollars

Yes, it says when we use hope this way with an infinitive it is smaller that you know what I mean? We’re not talking about big open schemes, right?

It’s a little smaller, right? Exactly

So it’s a common benchmark right that people might say love it totally

Okay, is there another structure here Aubrey where we could use hope? What is it?

So the second one is where we say what I hope is that followed by subject verb

So for example, what I hope is that she will be kind, right?

So we have that whole chunk what I hope is that and that’s always followed immediately by the subject and the verb

Yes, I love it. And then another example guys, make sure you’re writing this down

Okay, what I hope is that everyone will get along what kind of context Aubrey would we say this in like when what kind of situation?

I think I just said this yesterday because I took my kids to another friend’s house and she had all of her kids plus some cousins

So there were a whole bunch of kids new kids and I I’m pretty sure I said what I hope is that everyone will get along

I’ll come pick up my kids

You sound a little like concerned there like what I hope

Is that was there a troublemaker in the group that you were worried about?

My sweet little son Will is sometimes a troublemaker has ADHD and he’s just sort of easily distracted and all over the place and full of energy very hyper

So sometimes he can be a little tough

That’s funny. I love that

Okay, so we have a third way that we throw this in with some grammar. What is it Aubrey?

Yes, the third grammar structure we use for hope the verb hope is what I hope for is and then that is immediately followed by a noun

For example, what I hope for is world peace

Mm-hmm, or what I hope for is to get this job

Right what I hope for is to get the it seems wordy for is to oh my gosh

I think it’s more natural just to say I hope I get this job

Yeah, right the what I hope for is very formal. Yeah, you are we don’t speak this formally usually at work or with friends

This is the grammar, but we often will shorten it and just say ooh, hope I get this job

Yeah, I love it. You know when I think about this concept of hope I think of Obama’s campaign

I think that Obama ran on just that was his slogan just hope or something, right? It was yeah

The big colorful posters and hope in giant block letters. Yes those posters so much so powerful

I remember just I think we all just cried when he got elected

I know I did that that you know the when he was first elected that was was that 2008?

I want to say yes 2008 because I had just moved to New York City or maybe 2010

I was in New York at the time too. Yeah, exactly

So such a powerful concept right when especially when you’re speaking to different cultures who need to be represented

Don’t underestimate hope right? Yes, definitely

Right, and it was very related to voting because so many minorities weren’t voting at the time because they felt like their voice wouldn’t matter

Their one vote wouldn’t matter. Yeah, Obama really got the message out that yes your vote matters your voice matters

And I think people really rallied. I think there were record turnouts at the polls. Absolutely. Absolutely good stuff

Okay, Aubrey’s or anything else our listeners need to know about there’s one other sort of chunk that we want to share

Which is all I hope for you’re going to hear this. It’s the exact same grammar structure for what I hope for

But the meaning is slightly different. It’s bigger, right?

You’re never gonna say like all I hope for is to get this job. It’s not big enough

You might say all I hope for is that my family knows I love them something big and overarching

Or all I hope for is equality, right? Yeah, I love that. Yeah

So I feel like what you know, these are things people might say at the end of their lives, right?

They might ask you to write that in their eulogy or something

You could definitely say right all I hope for is that I’ve left a legacy

All I’ve hoped for is my children will remember me, you know, in a positive light

Exactly. I love it. I love it. This is so important because we’re giving our listeners

Guys, you now have the tools to talk about the big things in life that really matter

You know, what should we leave our listeners with today Aubrey?

Yes, I agree so much with what you said Lindsay that talking about what you hope to accomplish

And what you hope for is such a powerful way to build deep connections

Unfortunately, the grammar is tricky. So I’m glad we were able to share these grammar structures

So you can break it down and make sure that you’re as much as possible trying to, you know, say it with proper grammar

But don’t let the grammar worrying about this keep you from having these conversations

It’s okay if you make little mistakes here and there

What’s really important is that you do talk about this with people in English

People that matter. Yeah, exactly. So do you do any vision boarding, Aubrey?

I don’t. I know you and I have talked about this. You do. I really should though

I feel like it would be very helpful for me

They work. I’m telling you. It’s so magical. They somehow they work

Especially if you put your vision board right in front of you where you see it every day in your office

There’s something about that. I don’t know if I believe in manifesting in those words

Right. It’s kind of strange, but there is something about knowing what you want in your life

Saying what you hope for putting it on paper

It does end up eventually happening because you create the conditions

I do think I manifested something recently. I’ll just share very quickly

I was wanting to try stand-up comedy and I just went to an open mic stand-up show

But what I did was I created a little fake poster that was like me as the headliner

With the time for just this open mic show

And I sent it to all my friends to sort of invite them

And it looked like a real comedy show with me headlining just to be funny

And then I went into the open mic. Lots of friends came. It was fun

And at the end, a lady who books for real comedy shows booked me for like a paid comedy gig

So by making that fake poster, I manifested that happening

There is something to that. There is something to that, right?

So you’re spending that brain energy thinking about it happening, imagining it

And then you set up the conditions, you get the people around you and it does happen

And it did make me work harder, right? I like put way more effort into it because of this joke

Where I was like, oh, this is going to be a legit comedy show

There is something to that. You set the bar higher for yourself and then you put in more effort

I love it. So that was kind of your vision board, right?

That was sort of your vision board. So good, so good

So guys, what’s on your vision board, right?

Have this thought as you finish today’s episode

What are you envisioning for your future?

What do you hope for? So good

Love that. I’m going to go think about that right now

That’s right. Awesome, guys

And let us know on social media. This will be on YouTube

Come and comment on YouTube

Let us know what is your vision? What do you hope for?

What do you hope to accomplish?

Because we want to hear it

Love it. So good, Aubrey. I’ll see you in the next one

Take care. Bye

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