# "Want to" Meaning "Need to/Have to" in British English ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 15, 2019, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-meaning-need-to-have-to-in-british-english/829589 "2019-02-15T15:01:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-meaning-need-to-have-to-in-british-english/829589/21 "2019-02-15T19:38:13Z")
> [@Mk\_VII](#): > > It’s fairly common here, but it’s not good grammar. It’s perfectly good grammar. The most you might say is that it’s informal register. As septimus pointed out, the meaning of these auxiliary verbs drifts rather easily. Prescribing the distinction that you want to exist between “need” and “want” might be a valid subjective choice for a style guide, but it does not make this usage bad grammar. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-meaning-need-to-have-to-in-british-english/829589/22 "2019-02-15T20:22:07Z")
I think it’s more than a dialect. It’s “politeness” or reluctance to issue commands, seen in some cultures. Like, when someone in Japan says “you might consider doing it this way,” they are really _telling_ you to do it that way. ---
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2019, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-meaning-need-to-have-to-in-british-english/829589/23 "2019-02-16T01:22:41Z")
I once made the mistake in translating the “need to, have to” sense, using “you want to…” into Spanish. My partner told me it isn’t used that way in Spanish. Live and learn ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2019, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-meaning-need-to-have-to-in-british-english/829589/24 "2019-02-16T11:15:51Z")
And people wonder why translation algorithms get it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2019, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-meaning-need-to-have-to-in-british-english/829589/25 "2019-02-16T11:23:52Z")
> [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](#): > > I remember a man explaining to me how to get to a certain address and using “want to” in places where I would have used “need to” or “have to”. It’s not the same. You could just take a taxi. But the man was telling you the route you should prefer - with the Underground, there is often more than one way to get from A to B, especially within the Circle Line. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-meaning-need-to-have-to-in-british-english/829589/26 "2019-02-17T07:15:44Z")
If a person with good local knowledge tells you that you want to take the Circle line rather than the Northern line, then that is the way you want to go. There are many journeys on the Underground with two or more possible routes that look roughly equivalent on the map, but they are often quite different in practice. We seem to get more ‘wants’ as we go further north in the UK. ‘The dog wants fed’ = the dog is hungry. ‘The car wants washed’ = the car is dirty. ‘The horseshoe wants a nail’= the horse’s shoe lacks a nail. And so on. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-meaning-need-to-have-to-in-british-english/829589/27 "2019-02-17T08:33:39Z")
Brit here and I’d say it’s fairly common spoken English in the UK. I don’t recall hearing it in dialects from the US, Australia etc so interesting to hear it is not just British slang. In fact IME with foreign languages, it may not just be an English thing; eg in mandarin there are explicit words for “must” or “should” but in colloquial speech the same word as “want” is often used. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-meaning-need-to-have-to-in-british-english/829589/28 "2019-02-17T10:29:04Z")
It’s not too different from talking about inanimate objects as if they had feelings and desires. And genders. Very common in my neighborhood. “She wants to pull left,” said about a car. “She likes to run hot,” said about an engine. ---
**Author:** ![Littleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ccd318/32.png) [@Littleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Littleman)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-meaning-need-to-have-to-in-british-english/829589/29 "2019-02-17T15:07:09Z")
Yeah , it’s generally because they are phrasing it as a recommendation rather than an order. It might be the only sensible recommendation, but they still aren’t willing to give you an absolute, nor express the sense.of urgency that “need to” connotates. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-meaning-need-to-have-to-in-british-english/829589/30 "2019-02-17T17:04:13Z")
WRT giving someone directions to reach a particular destination, one presumably is justified in assuming that the asker WANTS to arrive at the destination. In such cases, recommendations about which way to turn, when to change modes of transportation, etc., are quite properly stated in terms of “things [the traveler] _wants_ to do.” On the subject of it being a Britishism, I am reminded of a time in the distant past when I read _Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland_ for the first time, and came to the Mad Tea Party scene. The Mad Hatter told Alice, “Your hair wants cutting.” Even at the age of ten, I mentally put it down to “this is probably just the way English people talk,” and moved on. That said, it was only several years later that I learned what “treacle” was. I still don’t think you can get it from the sides of a well. ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-meaning-need-to-have-to-in-british-english/829589/31 "2019-02-17T22:09:16Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > My intuition for this sense of “want” is that it feels a little softer, perhaps more polite; in giving directions it sounds less like giving an order than saying “you need to” or “you must”. Curiously, I have always gotten a more urgent tone from it, like it’s hinting at a warning. Maybe because it implies an unspoken “You _don’t_ want to go that way; bad things will happen.” Now I, er, _want_ to hear if people choose to use it in specific types of situations. Anyway, Californian here, and it’s not super-rare but still unusual as usage, in my experience. My mental picture of the speaker who uses it is of an older person. ---
**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-meaning-need-to-have-to-in-british-english/829589/32 "2019-02-17T22:16:26Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > … it occurs to me that somehow there’s an implied conditional - [If you want to get from here to there] you want to [whatever], or [If you’re going out in this weather] you’ll want your rainproof. I think this is exact reason. I’ve heard it quite often as well. It feels kinder and a bit more friendly. I hear an implied statement that there are other ways you could go or other things you could do, but I think this is the best one for you in these circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-meaning-need-to-have-to-in-british-english/829589/33 "2019-02-17T22:16:32Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > WRT giving someone directions to reach a particular destination, one presumably is justified in assuming that the asker WANTS to arrive at the destination. In such cases, recommendations about which way to turn, when to change modes of transportation, etc., are quite properly stated in terms of “things [the traveler] _wants_ to do.” I don’t think this is correct. In general, you _want_ an objective, and you are enquiring about what steps are _necessary_ to achieve the objective. For example: If you _want_ to go to London, you _need_ to take either the M1 or the A1. I have no implicit desire to be on either the A1 or M1, these are simply necessary steps that I must take in order to achieve what I _want_ to do, which is to see Buckingham Palace. So I don’t think this explains the colloquial use of “want” in the sense under consideration (to _mean_ “need”). ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2019, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-meaning-need-to-have-to-in-british-english/829589/34 "2019-02-18T01:11:59Z")
I dobn’t think this has anything to do with implicit desire. If I were to ask “How do you get to Paris?” in a context which did not suggest that I myself had or might ever have any desire to go to Paris, you could still perfectly properly use this form of words to reply. It’s “want” in the sense of lack or need. The “you” in the question “how do you get to Paris?” is the generic you; it doesn’t refer to any individual. Rephrase the question without using the generic you, and it will have the form of “what is necessary to be done in order to get to Paris?” And the answer tells you what is needful, using “want” in that sense. ---
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2019, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-meaning-need-to-have-to-in-british-english/829589/35 "2019-02-18T13:34:02Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > We seem to get more ‘wants’ as we go further north in the UK. ‘The dog wants fed’ = the dog is hungry. ‘The car wants washed’ = the car is dirty. ‘The horseshoe wants a nail’= the horse’s shoe lacks a nail. And so on. I’ve lived in the north of England the majority of my life. I only became aware of this despicable torture of the language about fifteen years ago and it does seem to be waning again now, fortunately. A converse one seems to be creeping in currently - “Where’s he at”? instead of “Where is he”? and variations on that theme. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2019, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-meaning-need-to-have-to-in-british-english/829589/36 "2019-02-18T14:30:24Z")
> [@dstarfire](#): > > I think this is exact reason. I’ve heard it quite often as well. It feels kinder and a bit more friendly. I hear an implied statement that there are other ways you could go or other things you could do, but I think this is the best one for you in these circumstances. I, too, feel like the purpose of this structure is to soften the direct quality of giving commands, especially to a stranger. At least that’s how it comes off to me. Similar thing I’ve noticed is how some people (I most notice this from a UK friend who was raised in a posh part of London) use “I would have thought” in places where “I think” would be usual in my dialect. Yes, they do have slightly different meanings, but “I would have thought so” feels less definite, almost implying a “but now that you mention it, I’m not as sure” instead of the direct “I think so.” It’s not quite politeness in this case, but it does soften the strength of the speaker’s opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2019, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-meaning-need-to-have-to-in-british-english/829589/37 "2019-02-18T14:46:18Z")
That’s very helpful, thanks. I’ll keep on using it, then. I like the “soften the direct quality of giving commands” aspect of the phrase. ---
**Author:** ![oligopoly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@oligopoly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oligopoly)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2019, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-meaning-need-to-have-to-in-british-english/829589/38 "2019-02-18T15:31:38Z")
Well this is strange. I always had this down as a US thing! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2019, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-meaning-need-to-have-to-in-british-english/829589/39 "2019-02-18T15:44:33Z")
Agree that it’s common on both sides of the pond. In the West Country, you’ll hear a variant form. “you’re wanting x,” with the word order sometimes reversed. As in: “What’s the best way to get to Truro?” “You’re wanting the train from Exeter” Or, “It’s the train from Exeter you’re wanting.” Naturally, in this instance Exeter would be pronounced _Aaaagzetter_. And if anyone here needs to get from Exeter to Truro, it’s the 4:21 from Exeter St. David’s you’ll be wanting, so you can avoid the commuter rush. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-meaning-need-to-have-to-in-british-english/829589.md?page=1)