The Paris Olympic Games will begin later this month, with the Opening Ceremony set to take place on July 26.
You are likely to see and hear discussions about the Olympic Games – the athletes, the events, and the results of the competitions.
For today’s lesson, we will explore this question: What are three important words to know when we talk about the Olympics?
There are many possible answers. But we are going to take a close look at these three words: “host,” “compete,” and “expect.”
Host
The Olympic Games are held every two years and take place over two to three weeks.* Thousands of athletes take part. Thousands of workers, volunteers and others prepare for and run the event. Millions of people from around the world gather at the Olympic Games to watch the athletes perform.
Cities around the world request to hold these huge events. They seek to “host” the games. Or, we can say that cities seek to be the “host” of the games. The word host can act as a noun or as a verb.
When we talk about the Olympic Games, we use “host” (the noun) to mean the city that holds the event:
Paris is the host of the 2024 Olympic Games.
The verb form of “host” means to receive and serve guests:
Paris is hosting the 2024 Olympic Games.
Note that the verb form of “host” takes a direct object. Direct objects often answer the question “what?”
Paris is hosting what?
Paris is hosting the 2024 Olympic Games.
So, we have the noun “host” and the verb “host.”
Which of the two is more commonly used, you might ask?
Google’s Ngram Viewer has data that comes from thousands of books. We can look at how common different words are and see how the usage numbers have changed over time.
We should keep in mind that the data and results are not perfect. Still, we can take away general ideas that can help us.
When we compare the noun and verb forms of host in Google’s Ngram Viewer, we find that the noun form is more commonly used.
And what is the most commonly used word after the noun “host?”
It is the short word “of.”
Let’s think back to our earlier example:
Paris is the host of the 2024 Olympic Games.
Compete
Our next important word is at the center of Olympic Games action: compete.
“Compete” is a verb. It means to try to win something that someone else is also trying to win.
We might use the verb “compete” to describe the athletes’ purpose for going to the Olympics. So, we might say this:
The athletes are competing for a medal.
Note that we often use the verb “compete” without an object. In other words, we often use it in an intransitive sense.
For example, we might say,
Seven athletes are competing today.
Still, we often use the verb “compete” with other short words.
Google’s Ngram Viewer suggests that “with” is the most commonly used word after “compete.”
So, you are likely to hear or see something like this:
Athletes go to the Olympic Games to compete with other top athletes.
However, we can find other short words commonly used after “compete,” such as “for,” “in,” and “against.”
You might hear “Athletes are competing for gold medals,” “That athlete is competing in the 100-meter dash,” or “The athletes are competing against each other.”
Overall, the main idea is that the verb “compete” is central to discussions about the Olympics. “Compete” may be followed by a short word. “With” is the most common of these short words, but you should probably learn the other common short words as well – for, in, and against.
Expect
Our final important word is expect. It is used to express our predictions.
People might “expect” an athlete to do well. They watch the Olympic Games to see if the “expectation” is correct.
This is part of what makes the Olympic Games exciting – and partly explains why people enjoy talking about the Olympic Games.
We have “expect,” a verb, and a related noun form “expectation.”
Google Ngram Viewer suggests “expect” is more commonly used than “expectation.”
We often use the verb “expect” with an object – in other words, in a transitive sense.
The object could be a noun or noun phrase, as in:
The trainers expect hard work.
Or we might see a structure that acts like a noun or noun phrase in a sentence. The structure “to + verb” is one such structure, as in:
The swimmer expects to win.
Or we might use a more complex structure like this:
Fans expect that runner to win gold.
Closing
Today we explored a few words that connect to the Olympic Games. Of course, there are many other choices!
We will end this lesson with a call to action. Write to us a short description of an Olympic Games – either in the past, present, or future.
Be sure to use some of the words we have explored today. Send your writing in an email to learningenglish@voanews.com
In a future lesson, we will give feedback on some of the messages that we receive.
I’m John Russell.
John Russell wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English.
* For the purposes of the lesson, we are combining the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. Separately, they each occur every four years. But combined, they occur every two years (2000, 2002, 2004, etc.)
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Words in This Story
intransitive – adj. not taking or having a direct object
transitive – adj. having or taking a direct object