Wishing and desiring are strong emotions towards someone or something. When we wish and desire something we use the verb "want" to talk about them and to give advice.
- What do you want for dinner tonight? / What do you wish or desire
- You want to get your tickets soon before they are all sold out. / I advise you to...
In addition the verb "want" can be used to express needs.
- Your hair wants cutting. / Your hair needs...
Most uses of want involve the simple forms of the verb (want, wants, wanted). When we are talking about wishes or desires, we can use the continues form of the verb as well (is wanting, was wanting, will be wanting).
- I was wanting to have a computer as anyone else.
- You were wanting to go to the theater weren't you?
- He will be wanting to be a doctor some day.
When we use want, we normally use the verb with the infinitive "to".
This is because the verb itself is a dominant verb and we would like to follow the verb in the sentence with a complement of some kind. The complement will be completing the meaning of the clause. The complement can be a noun, a pronoun as an object, a verb in the to-infinitive form or an object + a verb in the to-infinitive form.
Lets analyze this in some examples:
noun object
- Do you want a drink? I have just made some coffee.
- Oh sure, yes please.
pronoun object
- She said I could have her old bike,
- but I don't want it.
to-infinitive
- This is a new kind of fruit juice I got.
- Do you want to try it?
object + to-infinitive
- The teacher wants her to do the exams again next year.
In reduced clauses (e.g. short answers), we can use the "to" without its verb.
- Is Marry going to France with you?
- No, she doesn't want to. (She doesn't want to go to France)
- He wanted to leave school at sixteen, but his parents didn't want him to.
Want with wh-words (whenever you want!)
We can use wh-words such as what, when, whenever, wherever, whoever, whatever before want. In such cases, it is often not necessary to use the infinitive "to" after want.
- You don't have to watch the whole movie. You can leave whenever you want.
(or ... whenever you want to [leave])
- Would you like to have some of these?
- Yes, please.
- Take what you want.
Want with if clauses
In statements with if, it is often not necessary to use the infinitive "to" after "want".
- She can park her car at our house, if she wants. (if she wants to park her car...)
- We can visit your parents if you want. (if you want to visit...)
the infinitive "to" is complementary for if clauses but it is not necessary to use it with positive sentences.
However, we use the infinitive "to" after want in negative clauses with "if".
- He doesn't have to stay the night if he doesn't want to.
- You don't have to take this class if you don't want to.
Want in the continuous form
We can use "want" in the continuous form to show indirectness or politeness:
A- We're wanting to order some food, but we are not sure what to get.
B- Okay, I can offer you our chef's special if you would like to.
A- I was wanting to ask you something. Are you free right now?
B- Of course, you can ask me whatever you want.
We can also use the continuous form to emphasise an ongoing or repeated process:
- We'd been wanting to go to a holiday, so his sixtieth birthday was a good excuse.
- Now that you have graduated your school, you earned a present for yourself.
Want meaning "need"
Another usage of "want" is with the -ing form of a verb.
We use the -ing form to say something is necessary or should be done.
- Your hair wants cutting. / needs to be cut
- That room wants clearing out. / needs to be cleared
- Have you got any shirts you want washing? / which you want to have washed
Want for advice and warnings
In informal situations, we can use want + the to-infinitive to advise, recommend or warn.
It is almost always in the present simple, but we can also use it in the future tense with "will".
- You want to be careful riding your bike in town.
There have been some bad accidents lately.
- What you will want to do, you'll want to take that bit off and clean it.
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