Difference between revisions of "Want"
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*They want new screens. | *They want new screens. | ||
| − | *I want you. ([ | + | *I want you. ([http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/I_want_you.jpg Uncle Sam sez']) |
==modalizer== | ==modalizer== | ||
Revision as of 11:43, 1 July 2013
Verb
In French the verb "vouloir" is associated with "volonté" (will) as well as with desire. In English "want" is more deeply intertwined with a lack (un manque). When something is found wanting, it is insufficient, it is missing something necessary. This basic meaning of "want" is interesting, because it makes the grammatical subject an experiencer as much as an agent.
lexical
Examples:
- They want new screens.
- I want you. (Uncle Sam sez')
modalizer
When it combines with "to", "want to" is as much a modalizer as a lexical verb. Like "going to" / "have to", it adds a notion of desire or lack to another verb (active or passive) which expresses the object of desire.
- I want to finish before evening.
- I want to be finished before evening.
- They wanted to be loved, and they were.
Noun
Participles
wanting
wanted
Proverbs
Waste not, want not.
