ten informal English expressions that native speakers use from espresso
English net number one hang in there if someone is experiencing difficulties or
a bad situation telling them to hang in there means keep trying don't give up
be patient and things will eventually get better number two my new job rocks
or my new job rules the words rocks and rules are slang ways to say that
something is really great awesome or wonderful number three the new
technology blew me away if something blows you away it means it completely
amazed you another way to say it is I was blown away by the new technology
number four I missed the boat on that one if you miss the boat it means you
are too late to get an opportunity so you lose the chance to participate
number five we got off on the wrong foot this expression means to start something
in a bad way it is often used when two people meet for the first time and they
have some sort of misunderstanding or disagreement or their first impression
of each other is not good number six everybody was freaking out to freak out
means to panic or become very upset or agitated number seven I haven't done
this in a long time I'm rusty you can say you're rusty if you used to have
good skills or ability to do something but you haven't done this activity in a
long time and now you're not as good at it because you are out of practice
number eight things are still up in the air if things are up in the air it means
that plans are still undecided or uncertain nothing is confirmed number
nine we all have to pitch in to pitch in means to join
effort and help with something usually a project that has multiple people working
on it number 10 I'm be time to hit the sack saying you
are beat is a slang way to say you're tired and hit the sack means to go to
bed do you want to learn more phrases that are used by native speakers in
daily life sign up for the everyday English speaking course available to
spresso English net this course has 45 lessons covering English for daily life
social English and functional English as well as a few lessons on slang and
idiomatic expressions visit espresso English net click on courses and look
for the everyday English speaking course 10 informal English phrases and
conversation from espresso English dotnet for this lesson I took some small
pieces of conversations that I've heard in the past week which have interesting
informal expressions and I'll be using them to teach you today let's look at
the first one sorry I'm late guys I overslept no worries
let me bring you up to speed you can say I overslept when you accidentally sleep
later than you had intended to for example if you didn't hear your alarm
clock there's a different expression sleep in when you intentionally sleep
later than usual for example on weekends or on holidays when you don't have to go
to work or school now let's look the next line in the
conversation no worries let me bring you up to speed the expression no worries
means no problem or it's okay to bring someone up to speed means to give that
person updates tell them the information that they are
missing so that they can have a current understanding of the situation another
way to say this is let me fill you in here's another bit of conversation that
I heard recently what are you up to next week we might go to the beach but
plans aren't set in stone what are you up to is an informal way to say what are
you doing you can use it to ask about someone's current activities or about
their future plans as in this example what are you up to next week you can
also say what have you been up to lately to ask about what the person has been
doing in the recent past the response is we might go to the beach but our plans
aren't set in stone if something is not set in stone it means it is not yet
confirmed or final and could be open to change here's another bit of
conversation I heard when talking about a book one person said I didn't read the
book I just skimmed it and the other person replied okay but you got the gist
right to skim a book or article means to look over it quickly when you skim you
don't read every word carefully you just try to get an overall idea to get the
gist of something means to understand the central or the essential idea even
if you don't know all the details this was a conversation I heard after
attending a presentation that presentation was way over my head
yeah I found it kind of hard to follow if something is over your head it means
it was too difficult for you to understand the word way can be used
informally to mean very or much for example if something is way too
expensive that means it is much too expensive not just a little bit a lot so
this person is saying that the presentation was much too difficult for
them to understand the other person responded yeah I found it kind of hard
to follow the expression I found it in this context means I thought it was or
my opinion is that it was and hard to follow means it was difficult to
accompany the flow of ideas the speaker is implying that the presentation
was rather disorganized and unclear here's our final conversation it's two
people who are talking about a new employee the third time he screwed up I
almost lost it you've got to cut him some slack he still knew the phrasal
verb screw up means to make a mistake or do something incorrectly another way to
say this is mess up the expression I almost lost it means I almost lost my
temper meaning to get very angry visibly angry the other person said you've got
to cut him some slack this means you need to give him some
extra freedom or extra patience or treat him less severely than normal because
this employee is still new learning English from conversations is a great
way to improve your speaking in the everyday English speaking course you'll
learn the phrases that native English speakers use in daily life the lessons
are based on dialogues visit espresso English net click on courses and look
for the everyday English speaking course
eight more formal business English phrases from espresso English dotnet
when writing a business letter or when emailing a business contact who we don't
know well we tend to use more formal English today you'll learn how to
transform casual conversational English into more formal business English if
you're learning English for your career make sure to check out my business
English course with 40 practical lessons click on the link in the top right
corner of this video for more information
informal I want to talk to you about the project more formal I would like to
discuss the project with you I would like is a more polite way to express
what you want discuss is a more formal way to say talk about note that we don't
use about after discuss also note the prepositions you can talk to someone
about something but you discuss something with someone in formal I'll
get in touch soon more formal I will contact you shortly in more formal
business communication we avoid contractions short forms like Eyal so
that's why it is changed to I will get in touch is an informal way to say
contact the word soon is also okay to use in business English but shortly is
another alternative that makes it sound a little more formal informal you need
to send in your application by June 30th more formal it is necessary to submit
your application by June 30th it is necessary is a more formal or indirect
way to talk about needs requirements and submit is a more formal
way to say send in informal sorry it's taking forever more formal we apologize
for the delay it's common to use sorry in conversational English but in more
formal business communication use we apologize if you are speaking on behalf
of a group or company or I apologize if you are speaking for yourself it's
taking forever is an informal way to exaggerate the length of the wait
essentially saying it is taking a very long time but in business English the
word delay is a better choice informal I promise to fix the problem right away
more formal I assure you that I will resolve the issue as soon as possible I
assure you is a more formal way to promise things describing a problem as
an issue helps minimize the negative connotations associated with the word
problem and resolve or solve can be used as a more formal word for fix right away
means now or in the very near future in business English it's better to say as
soon as possible or immediately informal don't forget that you need to pay us by
Friday more formal we would like to remind you that payment is due by Friday
in everyday English we tell people don't forget but in business English we would
like to remind you is a more polite way to help someone remember something if
something is due on or before a certain date it means it must be finished or
completed before that time informal also please give us a list
of your products more formal in addition please provide us with a list of your
products when speaking informally it's common to start a sentence with also
plus or + to add information in more formal business English in addition
sounds better provide is a little more formal than the common verb give note
the prepositions someone gives you something but someone provides you with
something informal see you later more formal I look forward to seeing you
when you are anticipating seeing someone in the future say see you later
informally to friends in business communication it's better to say I look
forward to seeing you if you're learning English for work then you will love my
business English course it has lessons that will teach you phrases for meetings
interviews phone calls and networking and you'll learn useful vocabulary for
talking about finance marketing retail management and much more click on the
link in the video for more information and to take a free sample lesson thanks
for watching and I'll see you next time lesson 13 meetings today you're going to
learn almost a hundred practical English phrases to use in meetings many of them
such as the phrases for expressing opinions agreeing and disagreeing can
also be used in other situations outside of work let's begin with a few
vocabulary words the verbs typically used with meeting are have and hold for
example we're going to have another department meeting on Friday let's hold
a meeting to discuss the policy changes you can also use schedule arrange or
organize to talk about having a meeting in the future
when you participate in a meeting you attend the meeting
that's more formal or go to the meeting that's more informal for example did you
go to the project team meeting several people did not attend the development
meeting a well-organized meeting will have an agenda that's a list of topics
often called items that will be discussed in some meetings one person
keeps notes that will be the official record of the meeting these are called
the meeting minutes why hold a meeting there are many different reasons one is
to brainstorm brainstorming is creating a lot of different ideas so that they
can later be analyzed evaluated and the best ones can be selected brainstorming
is often done as a first step in a project before there is a definite plan
another reason to hold a meeting is to develop a strategy and allocate tasks a
strategy is a plan for completing a project and to allocate tasks means to
assign specific items of work to specific people meetings are also held
to collaborate work together on projects and give updates reports of progress and
current status finally meetings are held to make decisions some meetings use a
formal system of voting in which a decision is made if it receives the
majority more than 50% of the votes other meetings use a less formal system
of decision-making aiming for the group to come to a consensus that means a
general agreement let's learn some phrases for beginning a meeting to start
the meeting the meeting leader who is also called the chairperson or chair may
use one of these phrases hello everyone thank you for coming today since
everyone is here let's get started first I'd like to welcome you all if
there are new people in the meeting or people from different departments who
might not know each other the chairperson may introduce them using
these phrases I'd like to take a moment to introduce Carla from the public
relations department please join me in welcoming Jim a consultant who will be
helping us with project management Sheila would you like to introduce
yourself finally it's good to state the specific topic or objective of the
meeting in order to focus the discussion for example as you can see from the
agenda we'll be talking about I've called this meeting in order to our main
goal today is to for example our main goal today is to determine the budget
for 2013 phrases for asking for opinions meetings often begin with the
presentation of some information and then a request for opinions to ask
people for their opinions you can say what does everyone think about I'd like
to get your feedback on what are your thoughts about what are your views on
after one person has expressed his or her opinion you can say thanks to
acknowledge the opinion then use these phrases to ask for more people to
respond what does everyone else think are there any other comments if there's
a specific person who you would like to hear from you can ask him or her
directly by using these phrases Susan can we get your input would you like to
add anything Susan now let's learn some phrases for giving your opinion with
some detail in order to give you some flexibility in the way you express your
opinion these phrases are strong I strongly believe that I'm positive that
I'm convinced that I have no doubt whatsoever that there's no question that
this last one there's no question that is the strongest here are some phrases
to express your opinion in a normal way I think I believe or I feel that from my
point of view in my experience or I find that use these phrases to base your
opinion on your experience I'd say that if you want my honest opinion I think
that or to be honest use these phrases when you want to express a negative or
critical opinion the word honest is a diplomatic way to signal that you are
going to say something negative or unpopular finally here are some phrases
for stating a weak opinion you can say it seems to me that it's possible that I
tend to think that my initial reaction is use this phrase to show that this is
an opinion you haven't thought very deeply about agreeing and disagreeing
once other people in the meeting have expressed their opinions you can react
by agreeing or disagreeing here are some appropriate phrases for
this purpose again based on degree of strength strong agreement
I completely agree I couldn't agree more you're absolutely right normal agreement
exactly that's just how I see it I'm with Peter on this you can use this
phrase to refer to another colleagues opinion partial agreement well it
depends I agree with you up to a point but this means that you agree with some
of the opinion but not all of it I agree with you in principle but this
means you agree with the opinion in theory but not in practice normal
disagreement in English saying I disagree can be a little too direct and
may be considered impolite use one of these phrases instead to disagree
diplomatically I'm afraid I disagree I'm not so sure about that I see it
differently yes but not necessarily
strong disagreement finally here are some phrases for disagreeing strongly
the words I'm sorry make the phrase more polite I'm sorry but I completely
disagree I'm sorry but I don't agree with that at all
settling a disagreement what do you do if you're in charge of a meeting and
people are arguing use one of these phrases to settle the disagreement and
continue the meeting we don't seem to be getting anywhere with this so maybe we
could discuss it further at another time let's move on I think we're going to
have to agree to disagree
suggestions if you'd like to make a suggestion or recommendation you can use
these phrases the weaker phrases introduced an option as a possibility
and the stronger phrases give more emphasis to your belief that it is a
good idea weak phrases we could why don't you or why don't we how about or
what about strong phrases for suggestions I suggest I recommend we
should let's note that the phrases we could
why don't we we should and let's are followed by the base form of the verb
for example we could invest in new technology the phrases how about what
about I suggest and I recommend are followed by the ing form how about
investing in new technology interrupting at times you might want to interrupt the
discussion to add a point here are three polite ways to do that may I have a word
could I just say one thing excuse me sorry for interrupting but
controlling the meeting if you're controlling the meeting you'll need
these phrases to move the discussion to the next item on the agenda I think
we've spent enough time on this topic moving on if nobody has anything else to
add let's move on to the next item we're running short on time so let's move on
I'd like to skip item two and go directly to item three this means you
want to go from item one directly to item three if you'd like to give control
of the discussion to another person you can say this I'd like to hand it over to
Brian who is going to lead the next point next Brian is going to tell us
about finally it's common for discussions to go off-topic however you
can bring the discussion back to the main point by using one of these phrases
I'm afraid that's outside the scope of this meeting I think we're getting a bit
off topic we'd better save that for another meeting let's get back on track
okay getting back to closing at the end of the meeting use one of these phrases
to close it it looks like we've covered the main items on the agenda that will
be all for today if no one has anything else to add then
I think we'll wrap this up you can also use a phrase similar to the ones used at
the end of present nations such as let me quickly summarize
the main points you can also set a date for the next meeting our next meeting
will be or let's get together on January 29th on the first Monday of next month
two weeks from today if the date of the next meeting is not yet scheduled then
you can say I'll let you know the date of our next meeting now you know all the
phrases you need to participate in a meeting in English we've covered a lot
of material today so make sure you take the quiz to practice the vocabulary
lesson 9 business idioms part 1 idioms are short phrases with meanings that are
different from the meanings of their individual words idioms are different
from slang idioms are in between formal and informal so they are acceptable in
everyday English conversations and emails including some communication at
work slang is very informal and is usually used in humor music and
conversations between close friends formal English is used in official
business legal and academic areas casual English includes idioms and is used in
everyday conversation and emails and informal English can use slang you'll
find that in humor and music slang is almost never used in business English
but idioms are often used in conversations and emails so I'm going to
introduce you to some common idiomatic expressions this is the method we'll use
for learning the idioms first look at the example of the idiom in context then
try to guess the meaning of the idiom then wait for the answer and explanation
why do I recommend these three steps well it's important to try to figure out
the meanings of the idioms from the context this helps you think actively
about the expressions and learn to understand new expressions fast
ready let's begin number one we showed the president twenty ideas for new
products but she didn't like any of them so we had to go back to the drawing
board does go back to the drawing board mean a ask other people for advice B
start again from the beginning or C reuse a good idea from the past go back
to the drawing board means B start again from the beginning
designers and engineers often draw a picture of a product as the first step
in its development so going back to the drawing board means to start again at
step one of a process number two our sales estimates were way off the mark
we'd projected sales of fifteen million but the actual numbers were closer to
nine million does way off the mark mean a to optimistic be higher than average
or C very wrong or inaccurate way off the mark means C very wrong or
inaccurate this idiom comes from the sport of archery where arrows that do
not hit the target are said to be off the mark the word way means vary so way
off the mark means very inaccurate
number three the text for the article is almost perfect
I just want to tweak one or two sentences does tweak mean a remove B
make small adjustments or C make longer
tweak means B make small adjustments I don't know the origin of this word but
it can be used as either a noun or a verb you can say I want to tweak one or
two things or I want to make a few tweaks to talk about minor adjustments
number four I need to submit a weekly report on this project so please keep me
in the loop does in the loop mean a informed or updated be working hard or
see in the office in the loop means a informed or updated you can also say the
opposite out of the loop if you are not being informed or updated about a
project or news number-5 three people from my department are on vacation so
I've got a lot on my plate at the moment does I've got a lot on my plate mean eh
I have a lot of responsibilities B I wish I was on vacation too or C I have
nothing to do I've got a lot on my plate means a I have a lot of responsibilities
if you go to a buffet and you put a lot of food on your plate then you are
obligated to eat it all so having a lot on your plate means you have many tasks
or responsibilities number six the rule of thumb is to reinvest no more than
thirty percent but it's okay if you go over that number occasionally does rule
of thumb mean a minimum amount be strict limit or C general practice rule of
thumb means C general practice a rule of thumb is a general rule or general
practice that may have exceptions in some situations this is your thumb if
you use your thumb to measure something you can get a general idea but the
measurement will not be perfectly accurate so a general rule with
exceptions permitted is called a rule of thumb number seven Bob said I missed the
deadline but I want to set the record straight I submitted my work on time but
he didn't check his email does set the record straight mean
a correct a mistake and say the truth be express a different opinion or C get
permission set the record straight means a correct a mistake and say the
truth when there is a misunderstanding or something was falsely reported you
should set the record straight say what is true so that people have the correct
understanding of the situation number 8 we have until December to prepare these
documents so let's put them on the back burner for now we have other more urgent
projects does put them on the back burner mean a send them back to their
origin B give them low priority or C finish them quickly to put something on
the back burner means B give it low priority this idiom comes from cooking
the picture shows a stove with four burners if you are cooking multiple
things at the same time you put the less important items which don't need your
attention on the back burner and you put the items on which you are actively
working on the front burner so to put something on the back burner is to
temporarily give it low priority and less attention number nine that program
never produced any significant results so the director finally decided to pull
the plug does pull the plug mean a get personally involved B improve the
technology or C stop or discontinue pull the plug
means C stop or discontinue the picture shows a plug if you pull remove the plug
of your television from the source of electricity the television will stop
working so to pull the plug on a project or program means to discontinue it
number 10 yesterday's meeting lasted
for hours but in a nutshell we decided to close our office in India and open a
branch in China does in a nutshell mean a in an argument be in the end or see in
summary in a nutshell means see in summary when you summarize a lot of
information in a short phrase or explanation you can begin the statement
with in a nutshell the picture shows nuts the shell is the hard exterior of
the nut a nut shell is very small so when you put a lot of information into a
small number of words you can say in a nutshell to express the fact that you
are giving a summary number 11 Laura didn't go to the meeting could you send
her a summary of the discussion to bring her up to speed does bring her up to
speed mean a help her work faster B give her
the most recent information or C find out what her perspective is bring her up
to speed means B give her the most recent information if someone is up to
speed it means they are fully informed about the latest information so to bring
or get someone up to speed is to give them the most recent information so that
they can be up to date on the current situation number 12 don't make any
changes without talking to Peter he's the one calling the shots on this
project does calling the shots mean a communicating with the supervisor be
making the important decisions or C working very hard call the shots means
be making the important decisions the person who is calling the shots is the
one who has authority to decide what must be done and other people must
follow his or her instructions now take the quiz to put these idioms into prac
and come back tomorrow for your first progress test to review what you've
learned so far ten business English phrasal verbs from espresso English net
if you work in an english-speaking environment you might hear these common
phrasal verbs used in business situations number one draw up to draw up
an agreement a contract a list etc means to compose the document and put it in
written form for example my lawyer will draw up a contract and send it for your
review number two get ahead this means to be successful in your career or life
to make more progress than others for example you need to make lots of
connections in order to get ahead in this industry
number three burnout to burnout means to work too hard so that you become
completely stressed and exhausted for example if you keep working 16-hour days
you'll burn out within a month number four not measure up if something doesn't
measure up it means it is not satisfactory it doesn't compare well
with the standards for example this designers work just doesn't measure up
to the quality we've come to expect number five zero in on to zero in on
something means to focus closely on it for example we've tried a lot of
strategies but we need to zero in on what's actually working number six
lay off if an employee is laid off he or she loses their job the company
terminates their employment for example the R&D department had to lay off a
couple of people number seven pencil in
the phrasal verb pencil in is used when you set an appointment but you don't
confirm it as final for example let's pencil in a lunch meeting next Wednesday
number eight closed down this means to stop operating
for example the company closed down the factory because it wasn't meeting
production quotas number nine run something by or past someone this
phrasal verb means to show an idea or proposal to that person and ask for
their approval or feedback for example that's an interesting idea let's run it
by the boss and see what she thinks
number 10 sign off on this means to give official approval for something for
example the manager signed off on the revised budget for 2015 if you're
learning English for your job or career it helps to know the specific phrases
vocabulary and expressions that are used in day-to-day life on the job the
business English course will teach you these words and expressions it has 30
lessons that focus on interviews meetings presentations negotiations and
more and if you'd like to learn more phrasal verbs
check out the phrasal verbs in conversation course where you'll learn
500 phrasal verbs in everyday spoken English visit espresso English net click
on courses and look for the business English course and phrasal verbs in
conversation to see more information about these courses as well as take some
sample lessons common mistakes and business English writing from espresso
English net when writing letters and emails for work it's important to write
correctly because mistakes can make your English look unprofessional in today's
lesson you'll learn how to avoid 10 common mistakes in business English
writing number one I am writing in respect
of our recent purchase instead you should write I am writing in reference
to I am writing with regard to or I am writing regarding or concerning our
recent purchase all of these options are correct but you can't use in respect of
number two we would like to regret the delay regret means you feel bad for
doing something wrong so you need to say we regret the delay or we would like to
apologize for the delay the word assure is followed by a person it means to help
remove the person's doubt the word ensure is followed by a fact ensure
means to help guarantee the fact so you should write I assure you that our
products are of the highest quality we have a quality control process to ensure
that every item is free from defects again assure is followed by a person and
ensure is followed by a fact number four your order will be shipped until
Wednesday at the latest when talking about events that will be completed
before a certain day in the future use by for a single specific event and use
until for a continuous event shipping the order is a single specific event so
we need to use by your order will be shipped by Wednesday at the latest
here's an example of a continuous action where you need to use until we will be
performing maintenance until the 25th the maintenance will be continuous until
stopping on the 25th
number five I would like to request some informations about your services in
English the word information is an uncountable noun so it is never plural
this means we need to write I would like to request some information about your
services number six we accept all major credit cards the word except spelled
with an A means to receive willingly and the word accept spelled with an e means
to exclude when speaking these words are pronounced the same except when writing
we need to make sure to use the correct one the correct sentence is we accept
with an A all major credit cards here's an example of accept with an e
used correctly we offer free shipping to every US state except Alaska and Hawaii
this means Alaska and Hawaii are not included in the free shipping offer
number seven we appreciate your cooperate after articles like a and and
the and possessives like my your his her are and their always use a noun not a
verb cooperate is a verb so the correct sentence is we appreciate your
cooperation cooperation is the noun form of
cooperate number eight I want you to send me the files right now in
professional communications it's important to be polite especially when
making a request giving an order or expressing criticism a better way to
write this sentence is could you please send me the files as
soon as possible the expression could you and including
the word please make the sentence sound more polite number nine the conference
begins on Friday July 8th it will be held in Los Angeles California
not using correct capitalization and punctuation makes a very bad impression
in professional communications in English we capitalize the first word of
each sentence proper names names of cities states countries and languages
names of days of the week and months and the word I so the correct way to write
the sentence is like this the conference begins on Friday July 8th it will be
held in Los Angeles California we capitalize the first word of each new
sentence the day of the week Friday the month July and the city and state Los
Angeles California number 10 I look forward to hear from you after the
expression look forward to always use a noun or the ing form of the verb so the
correct sentence is I look forward to hearing from you here are two more
examples you can write I look forward to visiting your company or I look forward
to the visit in the first case we use the verb in the ing form visiting and in
the second case we use the noun the visit visit espresso English dotnet to
take the business english course where you can learn practical english for
phone calls interviews negotiations meetings presentations letters and
emails and more thanks for watching you
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