want
Primary: verbCan function as: verb, noun
Functions as both verb and noun without derivational changes
๐ Pronunciation
/wษnt/ (UK), /wษหnt/ (US)
Syllables: want
Stress: single syllable
US pronunciation has longer vowel sound
๐จโ๐ฉโ๐งโ๐ฆ Word Family
| Word Class | Forms |
|---|---|
| Verbs | want, wants, wanted, wanting |
| Nouns | want, wants |
| Adjectives | wanted, unwanted |
Limited derivational morphology
๐ Noun Forms
| Singular: | want |
| Plural: | wants |
| Possessive: | want's |
Note: none
Compound Forms
want-ad
Derived Forms
๐ฏ Verb Forms
| Infinitive: | to want |
| Base form: | want |
| 3rd person singular: | wants |
| Past simple: | wanted |
| Past participle: | wanted |
| Present participle: | wanting |
| Gerund: | wanting |
๐ Meanings & Definitions
Noun Meanings
1
lack of something necessary or desired
Countability: uncountable
“Many children suffer from want of food”
“The family lived in want”
Common collocations: in want, for want of, suffer from want
Synonyms: lack, need, deficiency
Antonyms: abundance, plenty
formalgeneral
Verb Meanings
1
desire or wish for something
“I want a new car”
“What do you want for dinner?”
Synonyms: desire, wish for, would like
neutralgeneral
2
need something
“The car wants servicing”
“These plants want watering”
Synonyms: need, require
neutralgeneral
๐ง Verb Patterns
want + noun phrase
“I want a coffee”
Note: Most common pattern
want + to-infinitive
“I want to go home”
Note: Very common pattern
want + object + to-infinitive
“I want you to help me”
Note: Common causative structure
Transitivity
Type: transitive
Passive possible: Yes
Passive examples:
“More workers are wanted for this project”
๐ค Collocations
Verb + Noun
โ ๏ธ Common Errors
โ I want that you help meโโ I want you to help me
Want cannot be followed by that-clause
Common for: Romance language speakers
High impact
โ I want go homeโโ I want to go home
Missing 'to' infinitive marker
โ I'm wanting a coffeeโโ I want a coffee
Want rarely used in continuous form
๐ Register & Frequency
Frequency: top 100 words
Spoken: very common
Written: common
Academic: common
Business: common
Formality: neutral
๐ Semantic Relations
Synonyms
Near: desire, wish, need, require
Contextual: would like, fancy
Antonyms
Gradable: hate, dislike
Complementary: reject, refuse
Complementary: reject, refuse