“Want”is a word meaning “have a desire for
something”. It can be argued that "expect" differs
semantically from "hope" in that it refers to the mental
state than the emotional one. In (4), she has a good reason
that she is pregnant in order to think it will, in fact, be a
baby while in (5), she does not know whether it will be a
girl or not but she hopes for this to happen and would like
it to happen. Therefore, “expecting” is a kind of thinking
while "hoping" is more emotional.
One can expect good or bad things to happen, but one
hopes for only good things. “Hope” expresses a desire
relating to the past, present or future with the meaning of
optimism.
6.1.2. Direction for Action
Distinguishing wanting and wishing is not always
easy. The comparison of “want” and “wish” may bear out
in two ways. Consider these examples:
(6) I wanted you to get ahead.
[14, p.190]
(7) I wish he hadn’t told the woman his name.
[16, p.152]
First, telling someone what is wanted is often a
direction for action as in (6) whereas an expression of
wish is not so obvious. Second, wishes, like fears and
hopes, can relate to the past as well as the present or
future as in (7) while wanting cannot.
6.1.3. Regret
For neutral volition, “wish” is a more formal verb
than “want”. For a hypothetical circumstance, only
“wish” is used since “wish” refers to unreal events or
states from the stand-point of speech time:
(8) Scarlett wished she had Melanie with her.
[15, p.436]
(9) I heartily wish that there weren’t a slave in the land
[14, p.338]
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