[ti:Zest, Drive, Desire]
[al:Ask a Teacher]
[ar:VOA]
[dt:2024-07-13]
[by:www.voase.cn]
[00:00.00]Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Anora in China about the usage of three similar words.
[00:13.73]Dear teacher, I am confused by the three words "zest," "drive," and "desire." I sincerely hope to know their differences.
[00:29.09]Thank you for writing to us, Anora. I'm happy to answer this question.
[00:34.57]While "drive" and "desire" can be verbs, in today's lesson we look at their use as nouns.
[00:43.61]"Zest" is also a noun.
[00:47.70]The words "zest," "drive," and "desire" can each describe a state of having strong or positive energy. 
[00:58.72]The three words differ mostly by the words we connect to them.
[01:04.80]We usually put the preposition "for" directly after the word "zest." 
[01:13.57]For example, we can say:
[01:16.81]She has a zest for life.
[01:19.77]With the nouns "drive" and "desire," we put the preposition "to" after them, as in these examples:
[01:31.10]He really has a drive to succeed.
[01:35.03]She has a desire to do good.
[01:38.99]Try to memorize words and their prepositions as a unit, such as "a zest for" and "a drive to."
[01:50.72]That will help you improve how you use your vocabulary.
[01:56.86]"Zest" is a noncount noun, so we cannot put the determiner "many" before it. 
[02:06.06]Instead, we can say "so much zest," "a lot of zest," or "full of zest." 
[02:16.31]We also say we can do something "with zest."
[02:21.80]"Drive" is also a noncount noun.
[02:25.52]As with "zest," we cannot use the determiner "many" before it.
[02:32.86]"Filled with" are words we put before "desire," as in this example:
[02:40.04]From a young age, he was filled with a desire to travel the world.
[02:46.59]"Zest" and "drive" can differ slightly in meaning.
[02:52.66]Zest generally means having a lot of energy and enjoyment connected to activities you do.
[03:01.77]For example, you can have a lot of zest for playing a sport or for the work you do. 
[03:10.43]But "drive" is more often used to describe a strong desire to reach a goal.
[03:18.27]Knowing details about the words we commonly use with the nouns we have been talking about can help you use them correctly. 
[03:29.01]And when you read and listen to English, pay attention to words that are commonly grouped together.
[03:39.24]We hope this explanation helps you, Anora. 
[03:43.61]We hope you have a zest for learning new things about English!
[03:48.13]Do you have a question about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com.
[04:00.34]And that's Ask a Teacher.
[04:03.53]I'm Andrew Smith.