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Speaker 1: Did you ever notice that when you talk about your

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plans in English you use the same phrase again and again.

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Maybe you say things like I'm going to do this,

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I'm going to go there, I'm going to improve my English.

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Those sentences are all totally fine, no problem at all.

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But Native speakers don't only use be going to when

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they talk about their future plans. We also use phrases

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like want to, plan to, hope to, and even intend to,

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and each one sounds a little different. So today, let's

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look at five common ways to talk about plans and

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intentions in English and how Native speakers really use them

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in everyday conversation.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from

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New York City, and here's your English teacher.

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Speaker 1: My alright, thank you John In. Thanks everyone. It's Michael

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here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.

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And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode nine seventy one,

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talking about plans and intentions in English. Today we'll look

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at five ways to talk about the future and the

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difference in meaning and nuance between them. Let's start with

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want to. Want to is the most basic and the

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most direct way to talk about intention. We use it

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to talk about things we desire or we feel like doing,

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and keep in mind, we generally pronounce want to as wanna.

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Like if someone asks what do you want to do

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this weekend, you might say I just want to relax

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and catch up on some sleep, or when talking about

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a bigger goal, you might say, this year, I really

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want to improve my English. So want to or wanna

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is natural and common, but it mainly shows desire, not commitment.

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You want to do it, but that doesn't always mean

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you've made a real plan, and that brings us to

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plan to. Plan to sounds more organized and intentional than

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want to. When you use plan to, it usually means

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you've already thought about the details, Like if your coworker

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asks are you taking a vacation this year, you might

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say something like yeah, I'm planning to take a trip

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in October, Or if your coworker says, hey, what are

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you doing after work, you might say, I'm planning to

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meet a friend for dinner. Now, let's look at be

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going to be going to, and it's spoken form. Gonna

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is extremely common in everyday English conversation. We use be

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going to when a plan is decided or already set. Again,

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if your coworker asks what are you doing tonight? You

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might say I'm going to stay home, or more naturally,

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I'm gonna stay home tonight, or when you've made a

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firm decision, you can say I'm gonna start studying in

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the mornings from now on. When you're gonna do something,

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the decision has already been made. Next, let's talk about

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hope to. Hope to is different from the others. When

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you say hope to, you're talking about a goal, but

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one that isn't completely in your control. It sounds positive

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but not certain. For example, imagine someone asks you about

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your English study. You've been studying, but you know life

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gets busy. You might say, I hope to improve my

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English this year. That sounds honest and realistic. You're not

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promise anything, You're just expressing a goal. Here's another example

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from work. Let's say you had a job interview and

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now you're waiting, and so a friend says, hey, have

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you heard back yet. You might answer not yet, I

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hope to hear back from them by Friday. So hope

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to sounds polite, positive and realistic. It shows optimism without

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making a promise. And finally, let's look at intend to.

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Intend to is more formal and more deliberate than the

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other phrases. You'll hear intend to informal situations, like in

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business situations and in the news. For example, at a

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company meeting, the CEO might say, we intend to expand

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our operations next year into several new markets. Or during

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an election season, a politician might say, I intend to

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make lowering taxes my number one priority. How many times

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have you heard that one? Now here's the key point

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when it comes to intend to. I'd say native speakers

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probably hear it a lot more than we actually use it,

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So intend to is useful, but it's not very conversation. Okay,

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let's do a quick comparison, talking about the same goal

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learning English. I want to improve my English. This show's desire.

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I plan to study every morning. This shows intention and preparation.

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I'm going to start a new English course next month.

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This shows I have a set decision. I hope to

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be fluent someday. This one shows a goal but also uncertainty,

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and I intend to continue my studies. This is more

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formal and deliberate, same idea different tone. Before we wrap up,

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let me ask you something. What's something you want to

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do soon, what's something you plan to do this month?

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What are you going to do this weekend, what's something

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you hope to achieve this year? And is there anything

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you intend to do? Try answering those out loud. That's

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how you build real fluency. And remember the best way

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to remember English like this and any other word or

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phrase in English, is to take that word or phrase,

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write it in a sentence that's true for you or

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true in your world, and then memorize your sentences. That's

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how you build fluency. Hey, thanks for listening, and remember,

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learning another language is not easy, but it's not impossible,

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and I'm here to help you on your journey.

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Speaker 2: This podcast is brought to you by Happy English. Please

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visit Myhappy English dot com. Show your support for Happy

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English by leaving us a review Get English, get Happy

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