This mini episode teaches you the “dying to” construction.
Episode 258 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you the “dying to” construction. Send your questions about English and your suggestions for future episodes to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“Hello, everyone. This is Helen, from Shenzhen, China. And you are listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 258 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts, on the Stitcher app, and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let’s get on with this mini episode.
The episode
In this episode, I am going to teach you a construction that we can call the “dying to” construction. “Dying to.” That’s dying: d-y-i-n-g, to: t-o. Dying to.
We use this construction with verbs: “dying to” and then a verb. Dying to do, dying to go, dying to know, dying to have. That is how we form this construction.
Okay, but what does it mean? Why do you form this construction? How do you use it?
When I say, “I am dying to do something,” that means, “I really, really want to do that thing. I am very, very eager to do it. I am very impatient. I do not want to wait. In fact, waiting almost feels like dying. That is how badly I want to do the thing.” When I say, “I am dying to do that,” it means “I really want to do it. And I feel like I am dying. I feel like I might die if I cannot do it.”
You can use this expression with any verb or verb phrase. You can say, “dying to see that movie” or “dying to visit my friend,” “dying to travel to Australia,” “dying to graduate.”
Let me give you an example of a situation where somebody might use the “dying to” construction:
“I took an important exam this morning. And now I am dying to see the results.” I took an important exam this morning. And now I am dying to see the results.
I really want to see the results. I am very impatient.
There is one more thing I need to tell you about the “dying to” construction:
We only use the “dying to” construction in continuous—also called progressive—tenses. What does that mean? These are the tenses that use a form of the verb to be and an -ing form of the verb. What I mean is this: we always use the “dying to” expression with dying, never any other form of die.
So, it is always a form like this: I am dying to do this. She was dying to do this. They were dying to do this. We are dying to do this. It always uses some form of the verb to be and dying. We never use it with the word died. “He died to do that.” We never say that. Instead, it must be “He was dying to do that.” (If we are talking about something in the past tense.) He was dying to do this. Or if it’s in the future tense, we must say, “She will be dying to do this” instead of “She will die to do this.” Again, it is always be dying, is dying, was dying, were dying, are dying. It always takes one of those forms.
And that is the “dying to” construction, a very common and very useful construction that I think you should know.
Outro
This is the end of episode 258 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have questions about English, or if you have comments or suggestions for the podcast, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can use at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Helen recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. I’ll be back soon with a new episode, and until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. Goodbye! I’ll see you soon.