This is an All Ears English podcast episode 1246.
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Today, a listener asks a winning question.
What is the difference between intention and intent?
Are they the same in English?
Find out with chunks and tips today.
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Hey, Lindsay, how's it going?
Hey, Michelle, doing great.
I'm doing great.
I was in LA over the weekend and we went to an outdoor movie and that was kind of cool.
Oh, I love those.
Those are always fun.
I like going to like movies in the park and stuff.
Is that where I was?
And it wasn't in a park or on the beach or something.
Yeah, it was in a cemetery actually is where it was.
Oh my gosh, Lindsay.
You know what?
But this was no ordinary outdoor movie.
I have to tell you it was very LA, because I feel like honestly, it's only in LA that you can go to an outdoor movie.
And first of all, they take them very seriously, right?
Because...
As soon as the credits started rolling for the movie, you would hear massive screams, even for names like obscure producers of the movie, obscure assistant producers.
Only in L.A. would people know those people, right?
They studied under them and they know them.
They're their neighbors, right?
Only in L.A. could you have an experience like that.
That's so funny.
Oh, my gosh.
I love that.
Well, that sounds like fun and also a little bit scary.
So I have a question for you.
OK, I'm ready.
All right.
So, Lindsay, so what did you intend to do yesterday and did you do it?
Oh, my goodness.
Well, I intended to get a lot more work done yesterday than I did.
Yeah, I did not get the amount of work done.
But I feel like that happens a lot.
You know what I mean?
You have all these things on your list.
And unfortunately, we fall short, but it's okay, because there's always another day.
That's right.
That's right.
That's what it's all about.
Yeah.
What about you?
Oh, what about me?
Well, I would probably say the same thing, actually.
I would say the same thing.
Yeah.
Oh, my gosh.
We always intend to do more than we get to.
But yep, that's what you said.
That's what the next day is for.
Lindsay, would you say like in your, in your personal vocabulary would you say that you?
It was your intent to do that thing, or was your intention?
What do you think?
Ooh, I would say, let's see, I would say it was my intention to do that thing.
Yeah, that's what I would say too.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But like it's interesting because I never thought about intent before an intention before this amazing listener asked this question.
So we have a question about this and we're going to get into that today.
So Lindsay, do you want to read the listener question for us?
Yeah, I'm excited about this episode, Michelle.
This feels like a very high level episode for our listeners who are trying to push that level up.
What do you think?
Right.
Definitely.
I think this is going to be a good one.
Yeah, this is gonna be good.
So here we go.
Here's the question.
This is from Wei-Charen Kuo.
Hi, Jessica and Michelle.
I noticed that you use both intent and intention in the article.
I think she's talking about the blog post.
Could you describe the difference between them?
OK, good question.
So there was some more, but we'll get to the rest another time.
So I mean, I love this question because one of my favorite things is when someone points out something in English, that's a little bit odd or strange.
And something that I had actually never thought about before.
It just kind of makes English new to me in a different way, because I never thought about these two words.
So, I mean, why do we have intent and intention?
Like, what is that?
You know, Lindsay, what do you think?
That's a really good question.
I think, you know, it comes down to chunks.
You know we're going to show you guys.
You know what the differences are and when we would tend to use them.
But the meaning is so similar.
The meaning is so similar.
Yeah, definitely.
The usage is so similar.
So let's talk about it.
So intent and intention, they're both nouns, right?
To intend, right?
To plan or to have a goal to do something.
Right.
So like, for example, the verb.
So I would say, oh, I intend to go shopping later, but let's see if it actually happens.
Oh, OK.
So using it as a verb in that case.
Right.
So I intend to do something.
Right.
Exactly.
But we could also use it as nouns.
So, Lindsay, so if we wanted to use it into a noun form, what would we say?
Okay, so it's my intention to go shopping later, but let's see if it actually happens.
Okay, or... Or it is my intent to go shopping later, but let's see if it actually happens.
Ooh, is there a difference there?
I mean, gosh, I don't know.
I think it's how it sounds.
I mean, for...
So personally, I would just say I intend to do something.
Right.
I don't know if I would say it's my intention for this particular example, but there are other times when I would say it's my intention.
Right.
But I still feel like I like intention better in this situation.
What do you think, Lindsay?
Yeah, I mean, yeah, I like both.
I like both, to be honest, and not to make it more complicated.
But as we know, I'm going to do that.
Right.
So I love it when natives say that there are intent on doing something.
To be intent on doing something.
Have you heard a native say that before?
To be intent on something.
Yeah, I guess I've heard of that.
Yep, I'm intent on, yeah.
Yeah, so that's another way.
Yeah.
Right, exactly.
And you know what?
Because intention is only a noun, but intent can also be an adjective.
Yeah, exactly.
Oh, we're just making it a little more complicated, but don't worry, guys.
We're not going to get too much into that, because the focus of today is the two of these words being nouns right.
Yeah.
And that's what we're really going to pay attention to today.
Yeah.
So let's talk about it.
So, Lindsay, so these two words are used almost exactly the same way.
I mean, usually I don't think it matters which one you use.
But in my research on several sites it seems that intent is a little bit more formal and And the plan is more of a real and serious plan than intention.
So it seems, from what I've looked up, looked around and seen, that intention is not quite as strong as intent is.
Oh, okay.
That's interesting.
So more casual kind of, in a sense intentionally or maybe just not, that like intent is, sounds a little bit more serious.
Like that, you're going to do something right.
And also, if you think about it, intent is also used a lot as a legal term.
Ah, oh, yes, yes, that's true.
And it's much less common to see intention in a legal document.
I agree with that, Michelle.
Right, right, right.
So let's do an example.
Lindsay, what's the first one?
Okay, it was her intent to steal money from the bank, but they caught her.
Ah, OK.
Yeah, that's what she intended to do.
So that's it's very serious sounding.
Right.
And also a little bit more.
You know like you're talking like in a criminal investigation or something like that.
Right.
Whereas if I say something like I had every intention of calling you, but then I lost my phone.
I'm sorry.
Yeah.
It's saying like.
Yeah, I had an intention.
I was going to blah, blah, blah.
You know, it's not as strong.
And every intention is a great chunk, by the way, that natives use.
But yeah, I agree, Michelle.
I would say I think of the word like malicious intent.
Using it that way in legal documentation or some kind of filing a charge or something, much more likely to say that than malicious intention.
You wouldn't say that.
Right.
So I like this kind of like separation here when we talk about more formal, more legal write ups.
That kind of thing makes more sense for intent.
Right.
Yeah, right.
Definitely.
Yeah, I totally agree.
And I mean I think I probably, if I'm going to choose one over the other, I would probably use intention more frequently.
Do you think so?
Yeah, well, yeah, definitely in conversation for sure.
Yeah, for sure.
And I'm not a lawyer, so I don't write documents.
Thank goodness.
Thank goodness.
That's right.
Yeah.
I mean, I think overall you can kind of use them a little bit interchangeably.
Right.
So like, for example, if I say if it's your intention to buy me an expensive gift, please don't.
I would rather save the money.
Okay.
Yeah.
Or I can say, if it's your intent to buy me an expensive gift, please don't.
I would rather save the money.
So, yeah, I think here it sounds fine either way.
Yeah, I mean...
This is another example of just kind of knowing what tends to happen.
And there's not necessarily a hard and fast rule, guys.
But this is part of becoming more fluent is just being able to differentiate into what feels right for you to use in that moment.
Right, right, right.
Exactly.
And you know what?
I was thinking of a chunk that I feel like I use a lot, or I hear a lot to say it wasn't my intent or that wasn't my intent, which I feel like oh, it's saying I didn't mean to do something.
Right.
I feel like.
I personally feel like I would more likely say that then that wasn't my intention.
Right?
Yeah, maybe I think I would say both.
To be honest, in that case, that wasn't my intention.
That wasn't my intent.
I would go for either.
You would go for either.
So you could say, if I hurt your feelings, I'm sorry, that wasn't my intent.
Yeah, yeah.
But intention could, of course, probably be used too.
I mean, guys, this is really like very fine details here.
And don't worry if you're a little confused, at the end you'll be able to figure it out by just listening in to native speakers.
For sure.
For sure.
And then, you know, another one, I think, did we mention this earlier?
I don't know.
Another one is I had every intention of blah, blah, blah.
Yeah, we mentioned this earlier.
I like this one.
I feel like guys, if you want to take one thing away from today's episode, you should flag that chunk right, Michelle?
Because this chunk here is super common for natives.
Right.
Exactly.
And I wouldn't say I had every intent of.
Right.
That to me sounds unnatural.
I agree.
Yeah.
Yes.
Yes.
Good.
Yeah.
So like I had every intention of meeting you there.
Right.
So that that ING.
Right.
But you left before I even got out of the office.
Right.
Yeah, I like that.
What about this phrase, good intentions, right?
So here's a sample.
I know she didn't do so well, but she had good intentions.
Can you give her a break?
Yeah.
Yeah, it's like saying she meant well.
She wanted to do the right thing, right?
So I wouldn't say, oh, she had good intents.
No, that would be weird.
So there are places when we definitely can't interchange it and there are others when we can.
Right, right.
You know, guys, basically the idea is that they're almost the same.
There are some slight grammatical differences that may pop up, but we wanted to start you on this right.
So I don't think native speakers know the difference and they would probably struggle to answer this question.
So I can say that as a native speaker.
So don't worry about it.
You know, the difference is incredibly slight.
You got to focus on what you hear others say around you.
I think intention is kind of the best casual word to use if you're not doing writing or in a legal document or something like that.
And then think of these chunks.
Good intentions.
I had every intention of verb ing, right.
So i think that's what i think.
Any other thoughts on that, lindsey?
Yeah, i mean, i think you're right, michelle.
Even by just adding these simple chunks, one or two of them, it can get you a lot of mileage in terms of connection, and that's always what it comes back to right, guys?
So take what you want from this episode and put it into action Right right, right.
So let's let's do a role play with this.
Lindsay, you are talking to the police about a robbery that we just, we just witnessed, you and me.
Oh no wait, hold on um um okay no, i am the police.
Okay, you're the police.
Oh boy, all right.
So that's what happened, miss.
Are you sure it was the suspect intent to knock the woman over, or was he just running away?
I don't know.
I wasn't really paying attention, but I saw it happen.
I can't say.
And what were you doing in the area?
Well, it was my intention to buy a gift for my little sister, but then this happened.
Okay, thank you for the information okay so, yeah.
So first I said you know it sounded very serious, like you know we're talking about the crime and you know, probably we'll get into some legal stuff at some point, right?
So I said, was it the suspect intent?
Yeah right yeah, It almost sounds like it was planned earlier, right?
Like they wanted to do that, right?
Definitely.
And that's a more legal kind of conversation, isn't it?
Talking about documenting the crime as the police officer.
That's what you're doing.
So that makes sense why we would use intent.
It points to what we talked about earlier.
Definitely.
And then whereas you said it was my intention to buy a gift for my little sister, blah, blah, blah.
That sounds a little less serious, right?
It's a little less strong.
It's a little bit more casual.
So that's a good use of that word.
Absolutely.
I love that.
And guys, if you want us to do another episode Michelle, I like that today.
The way we organized the episode was just to focus on them as nouns, right?
Because that will keep things simple.
But guys, if you want us to do a follow-up on other ways to use them like verbs or adjectives, let us know.
We can do that.
Right, definitely.
So, Lindsay, what's the takeaway for today?
All right.
So, guys, when you have two words that are so similar, it can be really frustrating.
You know, you want to know what's the difference.
You want to listen to how others are using them, right?
Think about the chunks that we told you to use today.
Write them down and notice them from native speakers.
Right, right.
Definitely.
Yeah.
So how is it used around you?
Is one used in a chunk?
Is one used more frequently?
You know, ask someone, you know, oftentimes, it's just a habit to use one or the other, right?
It might be someone's personal vocabulary.
And they might not know why they chose one or the other, right?
Because it might be okay to use both sometimes.
So So that's what I would take away from today is really listen to the for those chunks.
And we've talked about this before.
You know how sometimes it's not so much.
Oh my gosh, what is the exact difference?
Yeah, it's about the chunk like, oh, good intention.
I had every intention of right.
And sometimes something just sounds right.
Yeah.
Yeah, it sounds right.
And that gets you the furthest in the conversation, right?
That's going to give you the best results for connection.
And congratulations.
Thank you to the student that sent in the question to Weitern Kuo.
What a good question.
Don't you think, Michelle?
Yeah, because I just, like I said, I just love when students point out or listeners point out just you know something, something in English that I never thought about before.
And then I'm like, oh my gosh, this is crazy.
I have to find the answer.
So really, really good question.
Exactly, Michelle.
All right.
Well, thanks for hanging out today and for tackling this tricky one together today.
Thanks, Lindsay.
Have a good one.
All right.
Talk to you soon.
Bye.
Bye, guys.
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