【Top Words】10 Words and Expressions for Talking about Thoughts and Ideas

请关注微信公众号【Lucy每日英文】，那里有更丰富，更精彩，更有趣的英文内容在等着你哦！
如果喜欢的话请点赞并关注我哦，我们会不定时更新，期待大家都能说一口流利的英语！
文本：

Hi, everybody! Welcome back to Top Words. My name is Alisha and in this episode, we’re going to talk about 10 words and expressions for talking about thoughts and ideas. So, let’s get started!

1. I have an idea!

The first expression is…

“I have an idea.”

This is a really general expression you can use to introduce a new idea. This is pretty casual, but you can use it in slightly more formal situations as well. I have an idea! Let’s get Thai food for lunch, or I have an idea, let’s go to the beach this weekend. I have an idea, let’s take a nap.

In this example sentence…

“I have an idea! Let’s start a company!”

2. I’ve been thinking....

The next expression is…

“I’ve been thinking…”

You can use this to say “I’ve been thinking…” and then begin an idea or you can say…

“I’ve been thinking about (topic).”

So I’ve been thinking about finding a new job or I’ve been thinking.... What do you want to do for summer vacation? So, you can use in a couple of different ways. I’ve been thinking about... or I’ve been thinking… both are okay.

So in this sentence…

“I’ve been thinking about baking a cake all day!”

3. Here’s a thought.

The next word is…

“Here’s a thought.”

So again, this is a word you can use to introduce an idea. Here is a thought. In other words, here is an idea, a thought from my mind. Here you are. Here is a thought. So you can use this to introduce an idea you have had. Here is a thought. Why don’t you get a haircut?

In this example sentence…

“Here’s a thought. Why don’t you take tomorrow off?”

4. What do you think?

The next expression is…

“What do you think?”

Very common way to ask for someone’s opinion, “What do you think?” We connect the words do and you quite closely in this expression, “What do you think? What do you think?” It sounds much more natural than, “What do you think?” So try to use, “What do you think?” So this is… this is just a general way to ask for someone else’s opinion about anything, really.

In a sentence…

“I kinda wanna eat something spicy for lunch. What do you think?”

5. You (wanna) know what I think?

The next expression is…

“You (wanna) know what I think?”

So this is sort of like a challenge almost, like, it’s asking the other person, “Do you want to know my opinion?” Do you want to know what I think? Because I’ll tell you, only if you want to know. So, you wanna know what I think? Or you can drop wanna and say, “You know what I think?” So that you becomes /ya/, “You know what I think?” You know becomes you know. So, “You know what I think?” or “You want to know what I think?” So it’s a little bit of a challenge, a little bit of an introduction before you actually share your opinion.

In a sentence…

“You wanna know what I think? It’s a terrible idea!”

6. I’ve thought about this a lot.

The next expression is...

“I’ve thought about this a lot.”

In this expression, we’re actually using the present perfect tense, I’ve thought, I’ve thought, so that’s I have thought about this. Meaning, I started thinking about this in the past and my thinking has continued to the present. I’ve thought about this a lot. So this implies, this tells the listener, it’s something that has been on your mind for a while. I’ve thought about this a lot. So, your opinion is based on all of this past thinking, so something you have been thinking about for a long time.

In a sentence…

“I’ve thought about this a lot, and I really think you should quit the company.”

7. I have no idea.

I have no idea. I have no idea means I don’t know, but I have no idea means zero, I have no information. No ideas, I can’t think of anything. Absolutely nothing, no idea, I have no idea. So this is typically used in response to a question for information like…

“Where is your brother?”

“I have no idea.”

“What did you do with the keys?”

“I have no idea.”

So something like, you just don’t… you have no information, absolutely no information. You can say, “I have no idea. I don’t know.” Please note though that the idea part of this sentence is in the singular form, “I have no idea.” We’ll talk about why in just a moment, but I have no idea to refer to having no information about something.

In another sentence…

“The best hotel in the city? I have no idea.”

8. I have no ideas.

The next expression is…

“I have no ideas.”

So here, different from I have no idea, we’re using the plural form, ideas, ideas, meaning, someone is asking you for a proposal. Someone is asking you like to create something, to make something perhaps. So, they’re asking for a suggestion and if you don’t have any suggestions, nothing to propose, you can say, “I have no ideas. I have no ideas.”

So…

“What do you want to want to do this weekend?”

“I have no ideas.”

Or…

“What do you want to eat for lunch?”

“I have no ideas, really.”

So, if you don’t have any ideas, nothing to propose, you can use this, with an -S at the end of ideas.

In another sentence…

“Something to do this weekend? I have no ideas.”

9. I don’t know.

The next expression is…

“I don’t know.”

So, Michael and I talked about this in an episode of English topics many years ago, but I dunno is I don’t know. The casual contracted version of I don’t now, I dunno, I dunno, I don’t know. So, we use this when we don’t know the answer to something, I don’t know, or when we just want to kind of like relieve pressure or when we’re… when we’re out of things to say as well, I don’t know. So, when we’re, like not feeling sure or not feeling confident as well, we can use this phrase.

In a sentence…

“Why are you asking me? I dunno.”

10. I knew it!

The last expression is…

“I knew it!”

So here, we’re using the past tense of know, the verb, to know something, meaning to understand or to comprehend. We’re using the past tense, knew, “I knew it!” So, we use this expression when we guessed correctly about something or when something we thought was true is proven to be correct so, “I knew it, I knew it!” So, this is typically said with a positive, a positive voice. You hear this a lot in movies as well, I think.

All right, in a sentence…

“You had my keys! I knew it!”

So, those are 10 words and expressions that you can use for talking about your thoughts and ideas, so I hope that’s helpful. If you like, you can try to make an expression with one of these in the comment section below the video. Let us know if you have any other ideas as well. Thanks very much for watching this episode of Top Words and I will see you again soon. Bye-bye!