Talking about HOPE in English

Talking about HOPE in English

Hi dear readers. Are you a hopeful person, or do you give up hope easily? Without further ado, let’s dive into the vocabulary we need for talking about hope in English.

Full of hope (hopeful)

We say that people are full of hope or hopeful when they feel optimistic about the future.

• Gary arrived in London full of hope as so many opportunities were waiting for him there.
• Sandra was hopeful of getting better and returning to work by Monday.
• His job interview went very well, so he was hopeful about getting the job.

Talking about HOPE in English

Optimistic

If you are optimistic, then you are hoping and expecting good things to happen in the future.

• We did a great job with that project. I feel quite optimistic about it. How about you?
• The patient’s hope rose because the doctor sounded optimistic.
• Optimistic as ever, Martin decided to try and take the driving test one more time.

The glass is half full/empty

When we talk about optimism and hope we usually say that somebody sees a glass half full or half empty. People who see the glass as half full are optimistic and positive whereas people who see it as half empty are not.

• Lorna is such a positive person. The glass is always half full with her.
• Susan told her husband that she wants to divorce him because with him glass is always half empty, while she was a half-full glass kind of person.

Talking about HOPE in English

Hopefully

Use the adverb “hopefully” to say that you hope something will happen.

• I’ve got lots of work to do. Hopefully, I’ll be home for dinner.
• Hopefully, the doctors will allow Mildred to come home for the weekend. She’s in hospital, you know.

With any luck

Use the phrase to say that you hope something will happen.

• With any luck, we should arrive at the station on time to catch the train.
• Well, with any luck, this time next month we will be sunbathing on a beautiful Mediterranean beach.

Talking about HOPE in English

Live in hope

The meaning of this expression is obvious. If you live in hope, then you are hopeful about something.

• The future doesn’t seem very bright from our perspective but we still live in hope that everything will be alright.
• They haven’t found the lost boy, but his parents still live in hope.

Build castles in the air

If you build castles in the air, then you can’t be very realistic and your hopes are most unlikely to become true.

• I think that we should be realistic about buying a little house in the mountain and stop building castles in the air if we can’t afford it.
• There is no point in dreaming about the future. You’d better hit the book instead of building castles in the air.

Talking about HOPE in English

A ray of hope

If there is a ray of hope in a difficult situation, you feel a bit happier and more hopeful about it.

• There is a ray of hope that people missing at sea after the storm last night will be found alive.
• The new medicine is a ray of hope for people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

Lose/give up hope

If you give up hope, then you stop believing that something you wish might happen.

• Just when we were to give up hope, the engine of the car started to work again.
• Time was passing by and at some point, he began to lose hope that she would ever appear.

Talking about HOPE in English

I hope not

 Use the phrase “I hope not” to say that you do not want something to be true or to happen.

• “I think it’s going to rain.” “I hope not. We are going to play football in the open field this afternoon.”
• “Sorry about my dog breaking into your garden. It won’t happen again. “I hope not. Otherwise, we’ll have a problem.”

Pipe dream

The expression refers to something you want very much but it is impossible to happen.

• Fiona is not realistic at all. She has a pipe dream of becoming the CEO of her company.
• I’d like to travel to the moon, but I know it’s only a pipe dream.

Talking about HOPE in English

If you really want to learn English but don’t know how to do it and where to start, don’t hesitate to contact us. Book an online English lesson with one of our certified and experienced English teachers and take a test and consultation for only 1 euro!